SweetBlood
by Dark knightress
Summary: Note 1: Don't try this at home. And by this, I mean go walking through the woods in the middle of the night. And by at I mean because you thought it would be cool, and by home I mean through vampire territory and by period I mean oh god I wish I hadn't done that. The good part: Cassie has been hired to work for the royal family. The bad part: She's their son's personal blood bag.
1. Let me introduce myself

Sooooo I wrote this story a few years back, and it got pretty popular but then it got erased, so now I'm uploading it again. I'm doing this because I absolutely HATE it when I go back to read a story and I can't find it anywhere, and I don't know if it was erased or if I just can't find it. Ugh. Anyways. I'm probably gonna update this as often as I can.

I changed some stuff, so it might not be quite as you remember it (if you remember it that is)

Also, I have no idea what's going on in this story, the last time I touched it was in 2012, typos and all.

This is dedicated to: All those who people read it back in 2011 (or something?) , and then tried to find it again but couldn't. Sorry guys.

* * *

Note 1: Don't try this at home.

And by this, I mean go walking through the woods in the middle of the night. And by at I mean because you thought it would be cool, and by home I mean especially through vampire territory and by period I mean oh god I really wish I hadn't done that.

And by don't try I mean I totally tried this and am going to pay for it forever…

Well, then!

Hi, my name is Cassandra (Cassie for short) and I am an 18 year old zombie female.

I have always been a nice girl, a normal girl. I've never asked much of my parents, except for the odd movie ticket or ride to the mall. I've been good to my friends; we have nice conversations and occasionally go to birthday parties together. I remember my grandparent's birthdays.

But for some reason, I don't know why, God decided to punish me with never ending pain and humiliation.

My good friend God there did that by making me feel…bored. Yes, that emotion that causes young men and women and to jump off buildings, shoot projectiles into their crotches, and turn fat.

Note 2: Don't underestimate the power of being jaded.

And by all that I mean, please someone go back in time and stop me from making the worst mistake of my life.

Note 3: Vampires are not good.

Note 4: Vampires are bad.

Note 5: Vampires are the worst.

Note 6: Please, please don't tell Jack I said that. He'd kill me. He's probably already heard me…HOLY SHIT WHAT WAS THAT NOISE?!

Ok, calm down Cassie, calm down. You're here to help these nice people not fall in the same trap you did.

Don't worry, guys, unless you have sweetblood, there's no way it could possibly happen to you unless you were trying with all your might.

Sweetblood is something that only a few non-vampires have when your blood is rididdydonculously irresistible to all vampires everywhere. It's an extremely dangerous syndrome to have because everyone is out to either drink your blood, or harvest your blood to sell it in the black market.

For the past 18 years of my life, my parents and I have a pretty good job of keeping it a secret. No playing with knives or guns or vampires. No problem.

But like I said, I got bored. I was tired of being so protected and having to stay away from all the hot guys in school, cause let's face it, if you want a hot guy you better aim for those vampires.

ANYWAYS!

It all started when one late when I was supposed to be in bed, except I wasn't. Instead I was staring out of my bedroom window wishing my life wasn't so boring.

Note 7: Be careful on those wishing stars.

All of a sudden a bloodcurdling scream ripped the air, and a bunch of people ran past my house into the woods. Behind them a huge explosion lit up the horizon.

"Hot diggety dog!" I whispered, and grabbed my binoculars and box cutter and backpack. I had been waiting for something like this to happen, and I was prepared. Adventure was my middle name after all.

I slipped on my sneakers, and snuck past my parent's room and out the door.

The air was biting, and dew was already on the grass. Houses were dark, and the sun barely crept past the horizon.

As I shimmied down the tree and over the fence, I pulled my walkie talkie out and contacted my best friend, Terry. "Terry, come in Terry."

There was a pause and her sleepy voice tumbled over. "What now?"

"SomethingweirdshappeningbehindmyhouseIsawpeoplerunningandthentherewasanexplosionIneedyouhererightnow!"

"…I'm removing the batteries." And she was no more.

'I guess I'm in this by myself' I thought and ran in the direction of the action. I had not been running for 3 minutes when there was another loud explosion and something flew through the trees to my feet.

It was body.

I hesitated in my steps. My adventurer's howl had been overcome by the death screams of reality. The body writhed around and its faint figure was revealed in the starlight. It was a boy around my age, and he was covered in dirt and blood.

"A-are you ok?" I stuttered. The fact that he stopped moving for a moment was dripping with subtle sarcasm. I immediately smacked myself after saying that. Of course he wasn't ok. He just exploded! I was already too far into the woods to get any help, and I certainly wasn't about to perform CPR on a potentially herpes ridden stranger.

"Blood, I need blood," he hissed and rolled around some more.

Ok, CPR I hated because I could never do it in health class, but Blood transfusions were easy. Aced that part with a solid B.

I scrambled to him and performed the Blood Transfusion procedure. I checked his mouth to see if he still had teeth or was choking. All clear.

"Uh, o-okay sir. I'm about to give you a blood transfusion, if you have any conflicting dietary needs please state them now." I recited and held out my wrist.

He groaned and yanked my hand down to his mouth.

Now, through all this you might have been thinking, 'wait a minute, something's wrong here. Didn't that Cassie just say she had Sweetblood or something and that she spent her whole life trying not to let people get to her blood?'

Yes. Yes I did.

So now, since you're so fucking smart you could probably piece together what happened next:

He drank EVERYTHING.

I'm not sure how, because I fainted a few seconds after, but all I remember is this ripping pain shooting down my arm before the darkness.

Don't worry; I was fine when I woke up. Since I'm a zombie, my blood replenishes itself when needed.

Unfortunately, that was the only thing that was right when I woke up, but you'll learn about that in the next chapter.

For now, just remember this:

Note 8: When a vampire wants you, he has you.

And that thing I said about not tying this at home? I was serious.

Believe me; you'll regret it for a long while. I have.


	2. No Rest for the Sick

Beep.

Wake up Cassie.

My mouth was cottony and my body hurt like it had a fight with a steamroller.

Beep.

Wake up Cassie.

Bright light invaded my lids though my eyes were still closed. I was in a warm place, probably a bed.

Beep.

Wake up Cassie.

No, not right now thanks, I thought and turned my head to the side. My arm was killing me as I struggled to remember where I was and whose voice I was hearing. It was vaguely familiar. What was I doing when my eyes were last open? Uh, explosion, walkie talkie, blood transfusion…

Oh crapper.

I performed a blood transfusion in the middle of the woods in the dead of night without a supervisor and I have sweetblood. Oh crappity craps…

Beep.

DAMN IT CASSIE, I KNOW YOU'RE AWAKE!

Someone painfully yanked my eyelids up, and I snorted with shock and slapped the hands away. The moment I moved my right arm, I nearly choked with pain.

"I knew you were awake. Don't move around so much."

Lights danced in front of my eyes, and my senses restored themselves. I turned to see Terry sitting by my side in a large light yellow room with a bunch of wires and machines strewn about.

"Careful, Terry, we don't want to startle her, just ease her up nice and easy," Yes, I definitely recognized that pervert voice as my father's.

My father's and ok guy and I love him and all but I seriously think he's a porn star or something. That's the only thing I know that can explain his creepy voice or terrifying moustache. He's constantly slinking around the house, freaking out my dog and friends.

I looked around to see the rest of the people: Terry, my father, my mother, a doctor man and a lady in a suit.

My mother smiled weakly at me and brushed the hair from my eyes and then cast a weary glance to the foot of my bed.

I followed her gaze and nearly had an aneurysm.

There was a glass partition running through the middle of the room, and on the other side there were four very familiar people sitting on the other side.

"Ooooh my god" I whispered and tried to bury myself under the thick covers of the strangely comfortable hospital bed. As a matter of fact, the whole room looked like something you'd see out of _Royal Homes and Settings_ magazine which would explain the four people staring at me like I was on display.

They were the royal family of my land and I was in a hospital gown that did not cover my butt.

Terry noticed my reaction and smiled. "I know, right?! You picked the right night to go out for a stroll. I only wished I hadn't destroyed my walkie talkie, but it doesn't matter because guess who I was talking to when you were knocked out! Yeah, Jack. THE Jack. He's even cuter in real life than he is on TV. Oh my god, I can't get it out of my head. I think this is the best thing you've ever done. He's the one you transfused blood too. He's so sweet you just-"

"Uh, Terry?" I interrupted. "Can they hear us?"

She froze. "I mean…how are you feeling?" she muttered.

"Honey, are you ok? How does your arm feel?" My mother asked softly, like she was self conscious.

"My arm?" I glanced down at my right arm which had been throbbing and choked on a gasp.

"It's perfectly ok, Cassie, there's nothing wrong with your arm. The tissue is just healing," the doctor person said carefully. I looked at him and then back at my arm with mouth agape.

It was green and yellow and purple with a large gory red scab on my wrist and I swore I saw pus foaming and bubbling from the wound. No. NO. WHAT IN THE FUCK? I made a move to strangle the closest living thing, as is the way with massive trauma. My wild movements caused the stitches to pop and blood came spilling out.

"IT GOT IN MY MOUTH!" Terry screamed and she ran to the corner of the room. Her screaming got me screaming and thrashing around. "Honey, calm down, you're making a mess," My father said and tried to hold me down. My mother covered her face in her hands and the doctor suddenly pulled out a really, _really_ long needle.

"AAHHhhooo whoa, whoa, whoa. What's that for?" I asked politely as my screaming suddenly subsided.

He stopped prepping the needle and I saw the resolve in his eyes. He sprang for me but I dodged out of the way. Unfortunately he caught me by the legs and pulled me back. My father held my arms down and the doctor opened the back of my gown.

"NO! NOT THE BUTT, ANYTHING BUT THE BUTT! LET ME GO!" I roared, and wiggled furiously.

"Ssh, sshhh. Hush little baby, don't say a word," My father began singing in his best porn voice and stroked my hair.

Suddenly a vision passed before my eyes: A screaming, thrashing young girl face down on a bed with her ass exposed to the entire world. A middle aged man had her head against his front and was stroking her hair while crooning. Behind her, a man in a doctor outfit held down her two legs on either side of him whilst trying to prep a long needle to stick into her butt.

All the while a Duke, Duchess and their two teenage children were watching this from the other side of a giant glass wall like it was some kind of messed up reality show.

Fear gripped my heart as I realized they were still there. 'Oh no. Oh please no, no, no!" I prayed and slowly turned my head to the glass. God, for once in my miserable life grant me mercy and reprieve!

The tall regal Duke, his elegant wife, their beautiful daughter and gorgeous son were staring at me with wide eyes and open mouths.

There was a sharp prick as the needle hit me, and the world turned hazy. Before I was completely out I snuck a glance at my mother. She was bawling.

Beep.


	3. So Sue Me

The room I woke up in was calmer than before. Terry and the royal family were no longer there. Only the lawyer and my parents were mumbling to each other at the front of my bed.

"Mom?" I mumbled, and my head floated away from my neck.

She rushed to my side and soothed me with a calm hand. "Ok, Cassie, carefully try to sit up. Ms. Jab needs to ask you some questions."

I pulled myself up and the stern manly lawyer woman marched to my side. "Hi. I'm Tally Jab. Your lawyer. You must be the little troublemaker."

"It's pronounced K-ass-y.:

"We've got quite a lawsuit on our hands," she said.

I gasped. "No way! Dad, you pressed charges or something? How much did you sue for?"

My father shook his head slowly and Ms. Jab laughed.

"No, no my dear. Your family is the one being sued."

"WHAT?"

I turned to my parents who were both looking shamefaced at the ground. "I get all my blood stolen, end up in the hospital, get my arm jacked up and WE'RE the ones being sued?! Who are you anyways? Aren't you supposed to be defending us?"

"Well, actually, since this was all on such short notice, Duke Hunter offered to share his lawyer with us," my father explained.

"But isn't that conflict of interest?"

"Yes, and you're still being sued," Jab interjected. "For everything your family is worth."

"Why? Did God tell you to do this to me?"

My mother turned to me. "Cassie? W-what were you doing in the woods in the first place? It was the dead of night. You could've been hurt."

I frowned. "I don't know. I saw an explosion and thought I'd go check it out. Nothing serious, just some exploring."

"You mean espionage! And terrorism!" Jab yelled. Her voice pierced through the air and made my eyes bleed hatred.

"I'm pretty sure I said exploring."

"For all we know, _Cassie_ , you could've been in the woods stalking members of the royal family, either to report back to foreign alliances or to signal an attack. You interacted with Duke Jack Hunter without appointment and could have been planning to kidnap him or decapitate him."

As she spoke she got more and more excited until finally she began looked like Bill Cosby having a seizure.

"For all we know you're blood could have been poisonous, and once you were finished with him you would move on to kill the rest of the royals. You managed to break through guards and royal security. Your intentions are irrelevant. "

"B-but, there weren't any guards. A bunch of kids just ran past my house and then there was a boom and I followed them! I didn't know who they were!"

"But you just admitted to following them. Espionage!" She crowed and strutted around the room thrusting her crotch in my mother's weeping face.

"But there were no guards! They were just running around free, and that's not allowed! They should be the ones punished for sneaking around gated communities!"

She stopped oscillating and gave me a pointed look. "Oh, I know. They were doing s _ecret_ things which civilians like you shouldn't know about. You are a threat to national security. You have witnessed the secrets and could be planning to sell them to the Unseelie Court at this very moment! We are allowed to lock you up forever! CAN I GET AN AMEN!?"

"Amen," my mother said quietly.

"But I saved his life! He could've died if I weren't there."

"Yes, I know. I was just about to bring up that point. I am _your_ lawyer, you know? Which is why I am willing to strike up a deal with me. You should take it; I heard that I can be a real hard ass sometimes. Your parents already agree with it, so now it's up to you. Tell me Cassie. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

I was startled by this unexpected change in attitude. "An airplane pilot."

She gave me a disgusted look. "No seriously. If you could do anything in the world, what would it be?"

Oh boy. I knew what she was trying to get at. "A-airplane pilot."

Tally banged her fists on the table. "NO! EEEHHH! WRONG! You want to be a Sang Royale."

My face blanched and my throat went dry suddenly. "Ah, what? Oh no. I c-can't! I'd never do something like that.

Sang Royale is probably the worst job I could think of. It literally means royal blood and is a job only available to SweetBloods. The Sang Royale is hired by a vampire family to be their permanent source of blood. It is very prestigious, pays tons and you get to go to cool parties and hang out with cool people. The only problem is the matter of freedom. When you first start out, you get to circulate. From one family to the next you give up some of your blood and then collect your cash and move on.

To the next block.

Once you are hired, you are no longer free to travel around because it might clash with their feeding time. The only freedom you have is choosing who and how many you get to work for. But then over time, the families become more possessive as they get addicted to the blood.

Eventually you have to choose one family to stick with and that can have major repercussions. Vampire families usually don't like being disrespected like that and you could be murdered in the process, or worse. If the family you choose decides that their blood is in danger, they could lock you up in a dungeon forever, and only use you for blood. Like a cow. They're allowed to do that. And not to mention rivalries within the family.

And on the off chance that everything works out fine, and none of that happens, you'll never be able to do what you want again. The family has complete control over. You can't walk three feet without telling them what you're doing, and some won't even let you do that. There's always that suspicion that you're going to run away, and you'll have good reason.

I've heard plenty of Sang Royale horror stories to even consider going into that profession.

"Absolutely not. I can't. I won't!"

"Yes you can, and you will. Unless you want to bankrupt your parents and send them to debtor's prison," Jab said.

"Honey, it's for the best. We worked out everything so you don't have to worry. Nothing bad is going to happen to you," my father said.

"Like what? What could possibly amount to my freedom?" I shouted.

"How about four prepaid years at Jorgen College, your own living quarters at St. Sesame, a secure legally-binding contract, and a fat check every month. Your parents wouldn't have to work anymore," Jab responded.

"You can do whatever you want Cassie," my mother said. "You can still become a pilot. It's just that you'll have to do…this on the side. Just imagine your own beautiful room in a castle. Four years in the most prestigious college in the world. And then once they get another SweetBlood, you're free to go."

"Oh yeah, you hear that? You get another zombie with your sugariness and you're out of there! So what do you say kid? Jack is dying to meet you."

My heart skipped a beat. A member of the royal family is dying to meet me?

"It's ok if you don't want to do it Cassie," my mother began.

"B-but just think what will happen if you don't!" Jab interrupted. "You'll be back at home with a jacked up arm, no money, and no future. Everything is played out for you here."

They all gave me encouraging smiles and I swallowed hard. "Fine."

"Great! Just sign here and here," Jab said and pushed some papers at me.

I slowly signed away my freedom with tears in my eyes. "By the way," she whispered. "All that stuff about espionage and jail was all inadmissible. I was just talking out my butt."

"WHAT?" I yelled and she grabbed the papers and sprinted out the room.

My parents exchanged looks before following her.

"How could you guys do this to me?"

"We were only thinking of you," My mother said.

"We'll be right back, darling," my father said and led her out of the room. "It's going to be alright."

A few seconds after they left, the doctor came back tailed by Terry.

They closed the door in the glass wall but kept the room door open.

"So you're a Sang Royale now, huh?" she asked. I nodded and she hugged me. "It's ok. It'll be great. Don't believe all those stories you hear. You're gonna get to live in a castle, and I'll make sure to visit you every day."

"Visit me? You're allowed to do that?"

"Ch-yeah. What do you think I was doing out there? I was totally just kicking their asses. I was like, 'Hey, you better let me visit or I'll pop a cap'," She said while shadow boxing.

"Really?"

"No, not really, you stupid. I was actually just talking to them and they're really nice people. You'll love it with them. I expected them to be all arrogant and stuff, but they were like 'Hi, you're Terry's friend? Do you think she'd be happy being our Sang Royale?' And they were asking all these questions to try and figure out what you like. And you know who you'd like? That Emily. She's so cool and I think she wanted to meet you even more than Jack did and that's saying something. The way he was describing your blood to his parents was so weird! He made it sound so good. _I_ wanted to try some afterwards. And you know how I love a man with passion. You're so lucky that you're going to get to sleep in the same house as him! Maybe if you're lucky you'll get do a little uh-uh if you know what I mean."

She began thrusting her pelvis and making lewd noises and that's when I heard a slight 'ahem' in the background.

I totally forgot the doctor was still in the room but then, he wasn't the one who I coughed. I slowly peeked behind Terry's gyrating pelvis and froze.

"Uh, Terry. You might want to-to…uh p-please stop that," I tried to whisper, but she just smiled.

"What? You don't like it? Then how about some of this," she said and prepared to do a booty dance in my face. As she turned around she froze also.

Duke Robert Hunter and his family were standing there with shocked expressions as if they weren't sure if they should sit down or leave.

"W-we can leave, if you need more time to…do that," Robert said. Unlike all the times I've seen them on TV, they were dressed in regular jeans and shirts. Emilie, his daughter had on a wide worried smile as in the larger she smiled the more I would like her.

Duchess Sally Hunter had one hand on her husband and the other on her daughter like she was ready to yank them out of the room.

Jack, their son and the one who drained me was the creepiest of them all. He had his face pressed up the glass and was practically drooling.

"Uh, no not at all, Y-your Grace," I said and pushed Terry out of the way. She sat with a plop, and plastered on a smile. "Forgive me, Your Graces for not getting up, but do know that I am much honored to meet you."

Etiquette class did pay off for something after all.

There was a pause and I tried not to stare at Jack who looked like he was tripping major balls.

"Oh, how sweet," Duchess Hunter smiled and sat down elegantly and the rest followed suit. "I'm pleased to meet you also. We all came to thank you on behalf of the Hunter Family for saving Jack's life. Goodness knows what would have happened if you had not been there."

"Yes, we apologize immensely for any harm we might have caused you," Emilie said. "We only wish to be able to pay you ba-"

"Would you just hurry up with the fucking blood already," Jack growled and we all jumped. He was staring daggers at the doctor who up until then had just been watching us.

"Jack!" His mother exclaimed.

"Sorry, the bloodlust is still clouding his brain. He's never had that much in such a short time," Robert explained and tried to drag Jack out of the room.

"NO! NOOOO! GET OFF ME! HELP!" He screamed and on the way out he kicked Emilie in the face.

"MOTHER FU-," She was about to go after him before her mother pulled her back. They whispered to each other and Duchess Hunter left.

"Never mind. I don't think you should do this," Terry said in a harsh whisper.

Emilie's head snapped back to us and her smile was on, "He's not always like that, you have to understand! It's just he really, really likes your blood. The doctor said he should calm down in a few hours and then everything will be ok, I promise! One of our best SweetBloods died and we've been searching for one ever since! You're exactly what we're looking for!"

I frowned and Terry shrugged at me. "Well, he was nice when I was talking to him."

There was an awkward silence, and I noticed the doctor pulling out some needles and several tubes.

"It's too late anyway," I said. "I signed the papers already."

"Oh, thank god," Emilie gasped.

"Ready?" The doctor asked and sucked out several vials of blood from me without complaint this time.

"What are you going to do with those?" I asked.

"It's for simple preservation in our blood banks. We hope someday to be able to create a synthetic version."

He exited the glass room, bowed to Emilie and then left.

Terry ran to lock the door.

She smiled at me, "Welcome Home."


	4. The First Lie

" _Here, you must be thirsty," the doctor said, handing me a glass of juice. I nodded my thanks while I drank._

 _It was morning and all my visitors had gone a long time ago. My parents had said their goodbyes He sat by my bed._

" _Cassie, before you leave I just wanted to say that it was a pleasure meeting you. Yours truly is an interesting story. I also wanted to explain some things about your new life."_

 _The juice had a funny taste, but I ignored it and gave the doctor my attention._

" _The Hunter's have a flexible household, and I'm sure they'll be able to provide whatever you need food and health wise. But, as you know, vampires are nocturnal creatures and you're going to have to conform to that lifestyle if you're going to live with them."_

 _There was a pause. "Ok?" I said. "That's easy. I stay up late all the time."_

" _In your current state, it would be extremely detrimental to your health if you tried to make yourself nocturnal naturally. Luckily for you there's a serum made exactly for that purpose. You drink it and it completely reverses your body clock while you sleep."_

" _Ok, sounds good."_

" _Unluckily for you, it causes unimaginable night terrors and nightmares that you will not be able to wake from until the process is complete."_

"… _.Yeah. That's ok. I'm fine with my health being dentrimentalized. I think I'll take my chances naturally."_

 _There was a long silence and he stared at me. Suddenly a giant aluminum caterpillar with a human face dove beneath my bed._

" _The serum was in my juice, wasn't it?" I asked._

 _He roared at me, sprouted wings, and then flew into a cloud of barbwire condoms._

 _Holy cow._

"She should be waking up now. Look how bright the moon is."

"She smells so good! Could I just have a little-?"

"Hey, back off!"

Terry. That was Terry's voice. Or it could be the dog faced crow that's been stalking me. Maybe I should just sleep a little more.

"Would you guy's calm down? The doctor said it should be wearing off right about now…yuck. Is it me or is her arm getting worse?"

"Yeah, what did you do? Try to tear her arm off?"

"Shut up."

Death? Yeah, that was death's voice. Definitely stay asleep. I was beginning to recognize the voices and it didn't seem like I belonged in that conversation. There was Terry, Jack, Emilie and two other voices I vaguely knew.

"Ok guys, leave baby alone. Or he'll start crying."

"I've been reviewing this contract, and it doesn't say anything about her not being able to sue us. Including you, Liam."

"What? Whatever. She's not going to sue me."

"So? She was all too happy when she thought her father was suing us." Emilie said.

"And? Jack, I'd sue you just because you look the way you do. Seriously, wear a mask or something. I'm going to vomit that brunette."

"You're right. Liam's a major dick," Terrie whispered harshly.

There was a silence. "Do you think he heard me?"

I shifted and suddenly felt the softness of the bed. The sheets were thicker and warmer; the bed was wider and softer. The air smelled like cream and honey, my favorite smell.

"Guys, I think she's waking up," Terrie said. "Cassie? Are you conscious?"

"Don't hit her again! Zombie teeth don't grow back!" Emilie yelled.

I opened my eyes slightly, and I wasn't in the hospital. I was in a lush, wooden high ceiling room. It was like the hospital room, except cozier with more home accessories.

"Terry?" I asked.

Her face appeared over mine, "How are you feeling? Think you can sit up?"

I tried to pull myself up, but there was a searing pain in my arm and then déjà vu.

"Whoa! Calm down! We don't want another incident. Here, let me help you," Emilie said and pulled me up.

At the foot of my bed sat Jack, a vampire girl and a vampire boy. The two strangers were dressed in very fancy, high class clothes. The girl smiled broadly, but the boy was smirked like a pervert.

I'm sorry, but after living with my father all my life anybody trying to be sexy is a creepy sexually threatening pervert.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"Your new room!" Emilie said. "You like it?" She spun around, gesturing to everything.

"We asked Terry to come here and help us pick everything out. We were in a rush so we could finish before you woke up, but then we thought you were never going to wake up. You've been out for four days," Jack said.

His voice was soft and he was sitting stiffly like he didn't want to startle me.

'Ahem.'

We turned to the strangers. The girl walked over and sat by my side. "Good Morning, I'm Countess Claire de Glenn. I just want to apologize for what happened to you."

"Why?" I said cautiously.

They all turned to look at the boy vampire. He rolled his eyes and then smiled at me. "Good Morning, I'm-"

"Prince Liam," I finished. I recognized that trademark smirk from all those news reports and TV interviews.

He smiled again and ambled over to my bedside and shoved Claire down. He brought my hand to his lips and smiled graciously. "Yes, I am. Enchanted to meet you. I am so sorry about your present condition. It's all my fault."

"Your fault?" I asked and cast a wary glance at Jack. He coughed and looked away.

Liam gave me a sheepish grin. "Well, even though I'm not the one who drained you of your blood, or got myself blown up or entrapped you in a hellish contract to my family for the rest of your life, I am the one who threw the bomb."

I exchanged looks with Terry. "Bomb? There was a bomb involved in all this?"

"Yeah," Claire said. "Ever heard of the game manhunt? Usually it's not dangerous when we play with a group, but it was just the four of us. We were playing with weapons of minor destruction."

I racked my brain for any images I might have seen on the news about weapons of destruction: missiles, atomic bombs, nuclear warheads. "Minor destruction?"

"Yeah, like paint guns, sedatives, bolas, powder bombs. Stuff like that. But _somebody,_ LIAM, thought it would be cute to bring a real explosive. That way when he inevitably lost he would be able to go out with a bang. Isn't that right?"

She turned to look at Liam, and then frowned.

"Excuse me?" He said softly. She rolled her eyes and went back to her seat, "I apologize for my insolence, _your Royal Highness."_

She said it like a curse, and he smiled falsely and turned back to me. "Cassie, it's been a pleasure meeting you, but I'm afraid I must be leaving. Princely duties and all that. I'll be sure to visit you later when we can get more introduced." He kissed my hand and then looked at Terry with gritted teeth. "Lovely to meet you too," he said in a rush and then began walking out of the room.

"Ditto, your Royal Highness."

She failed etiquette class.

He ruffled Emilie's hair, and she growled at him.

Liam walked over to Jack who was still sitting. They stared at each other and I could see the hate sparks flying through the air and hitting people in the eyes.

Finally, Liam bent eye level with Jack and leaned one arm against the chair back. "Jack? She's as cute as you said she was. See you later, coz."

Jack stiffened and shot an accusatory glare at Claire who threw her hands up defensively.

Emilie pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

I winced and sucked air through my teeth. That was a low blow.

The ensuing silence after Liam closed the door was the most awkward thing in the world.

"PANCAKES!" I exclaimed suddenly. They all jumped and stared at me. "PANCAKES! That is what I want to eat right now. I am starving."

Emilie jumped up. "Oh! That's right. You haven't eaten yet. I'll go tell the chefs." And then she ran out. Then she ran back in. "You guys want anything?"

"I'll just have what she's having," Terry said.

"Nothing, thank you," Claire said politely.

"I'm not hungry."

Emilie nodded and ran out.

"At least that jerk is gone. Prince Liam, I mean. Not Emilie," Terry said and Claire giggled. Her smile faded when she looked at Jack's dejected expression.

"Actually, I should be leaving. It's getting pretty late and I have to get back to my sisters. They're overwhelmed enough as it is, what with the party and all. It was nice meeting you Terry and Cassie. I'll visit you later when everything's all track. Um, good bye Jack and Jenny says hi." She said the last part in a rush and then ran out.

Jack gasped and turned in his chair. "Tell her the boat is still stranded in France!"

"It's too late!" Claire called, safe on the other side of the door. "She saw you walking the dog! Nice meeting you guys!"

I pouted. "If she likes us so much, why didn't we get an invitation to that party?"

Terry slapped the back of my head. "Shut up. You don't even know them." Her voice softened to a whisper, "Hey, Claire told me that her sister has this huge crush on Jack. She told me about it while you were unconscious." She looked at Jack and then to me. "Claire told me that her sister was in love with Jack."

As you might have noticed, Terry's whispers are more like dull roars or the ocean crashing upon breakers.

Jack craned his neck and narrowed his eyes at her. She looked up at the ceiling blew up her cheeks. "Well, exc-u-u-u-se me. I'm going to go check up on the food. It's been like 5 minutes already."

"They're chefs, Terry. Not magical food fast-y makers. Terry?" I called

And just as mysteriously as she arrived, she was gone.

And then there were two. Me and Jack. Jack and me. Us. We.

The silence was deafening and awkward and I wished I had stayed asleep. Embarrassment was not my thing, and if it didn't end soon I was going to explode. I need to say something…anything to end this terrible horrible soul crushing silence.

"If it helps," I began. "I think you're kind of cute, too."

Quick thinking mouth; not exactly what my brain had in mind, but still good.

He raised an eyebrow and flashed a half smile. "Don't worry about that. Liam's a jerk. This is nothing new. It's not even his worst."

"Was bombing you his worst?"

He laughed. "Not even close! That's funny. Once, when we were younger, and my sister was just born he locked her away somewhere and then blamed it on me. My parents were just about ready to execute me. They eventually found out what happened, but he weaseled out of it like he always does."

I frowned and tried to find the funny part in that story. Nope. Not one.

"Uh, that was some story," I said. "Once, for April fool's day, my boyfriend put raspberries in my drink, and I began choking on them and-"

"You have a boyfriend?" He sounded surprised and I felt a little insulted.

"I did. A few months ago."

"What happened?"

"I'm allergic to raspberries."

He laughed even louder and I began doubting his sense of humor.

"What about you? I bet you're beating the girls off with a stick," I said.

He scooted his chair closer to my bedside and held his face in his hands against my bed. He seemed to be forgetting his original self-consciousness. "Oh yeah? Why would you say that?"

I held up my not jacked up hand and counted off my fingers. "You're handsome, and rich, and a duke…" I trailed up and looked up in thought. His smile melted off and he sat back in his seat in displeasure.

"Is that all you can think of?" He asked and folded his arms.

I shrugged and tried to suppress laughter. "What about me? What's good about me?"

He scrutinized me. "I'm not sure anymore."

I burst out laughing and nearly choked on my own tongue as my arm burst into flames.

"Are you ok?" He asked and leaned out of his chair. I shook my head and gestured for him to stay in his seat. "I'm fine. Tell me about your girlfriend."

He paused, unsure, and then leaned back. "I don't really have a girlfriend, but I have dated many women."

"Oh, really?"

"Yep," He had a self-satisfied grin. "Hundreds of thousands of exotic women from all over the world. Mostly models."

I stared at him and tried to find something nice to say, like my mother always said. Cassie was not amused, as you can imagine. Not at all.

I pursed my lips and tried not to let my annoyance show.

He saw my face and grimaced. "I'm going to check on your food."

He opened the door and in spilled Terry and Emilie who were crouched on the floor.

"Mom wanted you to come down and eat breakfast with us at the table," Emilie said. "And we weren't just pressed up against the door listening to Jack crash and burn."

Terry looked at her than at me, "Well, _she_ wasn't."


	5. Tada!

In my whole entire life I have never seen a table packed with so much rich people food. I'm not going to even try describing what it looked like except that I got my pancakes and omelet and so much more.

"How's your food, Cassie?" Uncle Robert asked.

They asked me to call them aunt uncle from then on. They said I was part of their family now. I've been adopted by royalty! EEEEE! Ok, ok don't freak out. Sorry.

"It's great. These are the best eggs I've ever eaten. I'm just not very hungry."

"Not hungry? You've been asleep for four days, how can you not be hungry?" Uncle Robert asked while draining the blood from a pig's head.

I grimaced and pushed my plate away as he squelched up the blood and pig juice. Some splashed onto my face and plate, but no one seemed to notice. Or rather, no one seemed to care. They were all sucking blood from their small labeled designer velvet lined baggies. It seemed that Uncle Robert liked his food au natural.

"Well, if everyone is finished I'd like it if we all could report to the living room for our first family meeting with Cassie," Aunt Sally announced and pushed her chair back. "I have an important announcement."

The moment she left the table, the food was all carted away by dozens of servants despite everyone's unfinished meal. Jack sighed as if he was used to this kind of treatment. He had just bitten into his packet.

I watched in bewilderment as they all walked in different directions. "Um, where exactly is the living room?"

Uncle Robert gestured to me and I ran to follow him. "So how has your stay been so far?"

I paused and tried to fall in step with his large strides. "Great! I love my bed and the food and…stuff."

He smiled. "That was an unfair question. You've only been conscious in this house for a few hours. But don't worry. You'll get used to it, especially after the surprise we have planned for you."

I gulped. There were a lot of things I needed at that moment: peace of mind, a proper meal, roller blades. A surprise was not one of them. He led me through a dark winding corridor lit only by torches until we ended up in a small, but bright room with a fire crackling in the corner and the faces of dozens of lifeless animal heads mounted on the wall.

"This is the living room?" I asked. It looked suspiciously manly. He sat on a big red leather chair and gestured for me to sit on the ottoman next to it. Weapons of all lethalness were hung upon the walls. Knives, guns, blood stained axes and torture devices.

Uncle Robert pulled out a pipe and began smoking it. Shadows flickered against the frozen heads and I noticed two large shelves. One filled with books and the other filled with blood…and whiskey.

Something about this scene seemed so familiar and yet so wrong.

"Cassandra, this is not the living room. This is my study. My safe haven. I brought you here because I need to share something very special with you."

I frowned in confusion and then suddenly it hit me. My father had one of these rooms, and he said those exact same words right before we had _the talk._

That was the worst experience of my life. I would gladly have my blood drained ten times over just to be rid of the horrible soul scarring memory.

"…It's not that we hate him. He's just not that likeable. I love my son, and this would be the perfect way to tell him. So what do you say?" Uncle Robert finished with a resolute pat on my shoulder.

I blinked. I was so caught up in my traumatic flashback, I didn't hear him. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Now, Cassandra, I know it deviates from our original deal, but it would mean so much to me and Sally, and especially Jack. We didn't even do anything for his birthday. It's a wonder he hasn't run away yet. And don't worry. You'll get over his initial moodiness, we all do in time."

I was more confused than ever. Birthdays? Moodiness? "Could you explain all that again please?"

He sighed deeply and looked at his pipe. "We wanted to hire you as Jack's fulltime SweetBlood. You'd answer only to him and he's the only one could feed from you. Of course, that means he'd have to feed more often, and is likely to become dependent on your blood. And then there's that whole blood ritual…, but let's not worry about that now. It might not even happen…soon."

He smiled and I stared at him in shock. "B-blood ritual? You wanted to bind me to your son for life rendering me incapable of ever leaving or even surviving without him within three hours of meeting me?"

Uncle Robert looked like hadn't even considered that part and leaned back in thought. After a second, he responded, "Yes. Don't think about all that blood ritual stuff now, it's not guaranteed. For now, all he'd do is feed on you and we wouldn't touch you."

Exclusive feeding rights? That usually came after years of feeding and family feuds about who had ownership. "What about the rest of you?"

He looked down sheepishly. "We have that covered. Everything's handled, don't worry."

"What about Jack? What does he say about this?" I asked softly.

"He doesn't know yet. We wanted it to be a surprise, which is why I had to bring you here and ask."

I paused. This sounded considerably better than having to feed four people. There wouldn't be any fights, less people clamoring for my blood, not as much blood draining. Only problem would be the danger of him draining me again, and having to bind myself to him because without me he'd die and the terrible awkward conversations. Was it really worth it?

"How's about I throw a pair of rollerblades into the mix?"

"Deal."

When we all were assembled in the living room, which was actually a small ballroom with couches, Jack and I had to sit on one couch while the rest faced us.

"Jack, I love you. You're my little brother and I want you to be happy. We all do," Emilie began. "That's why I think it would be a good idea if you had exclusive feeding rights to Cassandra."

He spit out the soda he had been drinking and dropped the glass when he sprang up. "What?!"

His eyes were wide when he looked from me to his family then to me and then family. " _What?!"_

These successions of 'what's' were not the good kind, but the bad kind where people get beaten up and have their fingertips cut off.

Emilie had backed up considerably like she knew this was going to happen, and her parents had turned their backs on her as if trying to say they were no longer responsible for whatever happened.

The gods have turned their back on you Emilie. Give up now.

"You expect me to place my life in _her_ hands?" He pointed at me with a stiff finger but had his eyes trained on Emilie. "The one who hates her life as a SweetBlood? The one who might runaway at any moment? You expect me to become solely dependent on her, and forget whatever else I've been planning to do? You expect me to just reject all the other girls clamoring to be my food so I can become legally bound to _that?"_

Damn. That was crossing the line majorly. This was not the same Jack I had been giggling with in my room a few hours ago. In all honesty, I thought he kind of liked me. But when you like someone you don't call them a _that_.

Emilie looked to her parents for help, but to no avail. She was in this alone, even though Uncle Robert just told me this was kind of his idea. "Yes?"

He narrowed his eyes at her and then blew up his cheeks like he was holding back some really nasty words before storming down some random hall.

"'This would mean so much to me Sally and especially Jack'?" I quoted.

"You don't understand; it's for his own good! It's nothing personal," Emilie said.

"Nothing personal?" I shouted. "This is my life! No, not even. This is your life now. You have my life and I don't even know why anymore!"

Her parents gave me sad looks before walking away. Emilie took a step toward me, paused and then lunged for my hand. She pulled me down the hallway Jack had gone down. "We have to talk this out together."

"Together? There isn't going to be a together! I don't want any part of this, just let me go home!" I said and pulled away.

She grasped my hand tighter and pulled me toward her. "You already signed the contract," she snapped. "It's too late, so just deal with it."

Yikes. Her fangs were showing and everything. I let her pull me down the hall till we hit a huge dark oak door with five pound gold handles. She pushed it open and pushed me in. Jack was lying on his huge black bed like a dead thing and everything was deathly still. It was like nothing had moved in his room for ages.

Only his eyes moved to glare at us. "What? Come here to ruin my life even more?"

What was his deal? I was the one who signed her life away forever with no logical explanation and _he_ was the one complaining?

"It's for your own good, Jack. With her, you'll be safer! You can't keep drinking from random people; you're going to get sick or kidnapped. It's a dangerous kidnappy world out there. Look at the bright side: you'll get more work done, because she'll always be right here. And when you do the blood ritual, we'll always know where you are. You don't have any friends Jacks. Only whores. She can be your first friend. She'd never lie to you! She wouldn't be able to! It's the responsible thing to do! Everyone's been expecting you to settle down with one donor," She doled out excuse after excuse.

Now, I didn't know about any of that when I started. I thought being an exclusive SweetBlood meant that I'd have to do the blood ritual which meant that I'd only be able to feed one person, and they'd only be able to feed from me as a sort of legal thing. But it turns out, after a while of feeding on only one person, you become sick when you try to drink from someone else. And after only feeding one person for a while, I'd become sick if someone else bit me because of all their nasty foreign mouth germs. We'd eventually become bound to one another. I'd know when he was hungry and he'd know when I was sick. If I ever went missing, he'd know exactly where I was. Like a _marriage._ His sister was asking me to marry him. Shh, don't freak out. DON'T FREAK OUT.

And then she said I'd 'never be able to lie' to him again, I'm beginning to think that that isn't all.

"So?" Jack shot up. "Screw what everyone else thinks, what about me? You're just going to stick me with her forever? Why would you do this to me? I thought you were my sister!"

"I am! And I love you! That's why I want to keep you safe! With her, you at least know where your blood is coming from and you can still date whoever! Please, just let this be the one stable non-familial relationship you have with someone. She'll be your company, too. You won't need to date thousands of girls every day, because Cassie will be right here listening to your problems. You don't have to keep sleeping around! Even if mom and dad forget to bring you on vacation with us again, you'll still have her."

You hearing all this? I went from airplane pilot, to a royal family's SweetBlood to a personal SweetBlood to a sidekick. Then there's that whole 'sleeping around' part. I don't even know what to say about that. And I guess his dad wasn't lying about loving but not liking his son. I didn't know who to feel sorry for more, me or him.

And the worst part was: Jack seemed to be getting into the idea.

His face turned from angry to skeptical while Emilie waxed Dr. Phil. "And lastly," she ended. "We won't do the blood ritual now. You can have a trial period and if it doesn't work out, we can send her home and everything will work out. Ok? Please, little brother! Please! Do it for me."

He frowned and looked down. "What if we don't get along?"

Did they forget that I was standing there?

"Of course you'll get along. Cassie likes you! What girl wouldn't? Name one girl who hasn't fallen for you. You like him, right Cassie?"

I jumped when she addressed me. It was better when I was part of the background. "Um, I-I guess. I thought we were getting along pretty well this morning when we were laughing and joking and y-you remember right?"

Emilie shook her head tightly and Jack smiled dryly. "Yeah," Jack said. "When I thought I had other options. You're cute, but not that cute."

My eyes widened when I realized what that meant. It was all an act. That nice sweet boy I was talking to DIDN'T EXIST! He was just trying to get into my pants. Ew. EW! And I almost fell for it! SLEEPING AROUND! FREAKING OUT!

"No. No, I am not doing this. Sue me, send me to jail, I don't care. I'm going home. No more. I'm finished," I said and walked out the door. In a second Jack was in front of me, leaning too close to my face.

I screamed and jumped back, nearly twisting my ankle. "What do you mean no more? You signed the contract already, you don't have a choice."

"I don't care. I'm going home."

"Home? But we have a deal. We're offering you four years in the best college, your own room and total financial support for you and your family," he said and it almost sounded like pleading.

"I. Do not. Give. Two fucks! My family will forgive me. I just want to leave."

He stared at me with what could have been shock, but looked more like that emotion I have whenever a teacher asks me to do a math problem on the board. Oh yeah: insecurity. He was feeling insecure, and I realized it was because this was the closest he's ever come to rejection. Believe me, I would have loved to walk him through these budding new feelings, but I was in a rush.

"You'd rather go back to a futureless life with your poor parents then be my SweetBlood?" The way he said it made it sound more like an accusation than a question. A loaded accusation that I wasn't prepared to answer.

"…Yes."

Or, maybe I was.

His eyes narrowed and then held out his hand. "Contract."

Emilie jumped with glee and handed him the papers and he signed.

"But why?" I exclaimed. "I thought you wanted to be free and drink from whoever you wanted? Why are you doing this to me?"

"Because it's the healthy and responsible thing to do," he said with a frown. We all knew that wasn't a reason. It was because he couldn't handle being semi-rejected!

"Cassie, please. I promise _promise_ this will all turn out fine. And who knows, maybe later you'll _want_ to do the blood ritual. Just give it a try, you have nothing to lose," Emilie pleaded.

Except my sanity. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

She smiled sadly, "No. I'm going to rest. You should stay here and get to know, uh, the r _eal_ Jack." She left the room quickly like she was embarrassed that she had to explain her brother's man-whore-ism.

And then it was us again. Me and Jack. Jack and me. Us. We. Oh god, no more tricks.

"I want to go my room," I said quietly.

"Look, I'm not a bad guy. In fact I like um, puppies and…being nice," he said.

I shook my head, "Too late man. I'm not falling for anymore of your stupid tricks again."

"Well, fine!" He snapped. "You can't say I didn't try to make this work. We could've had fun, but you just want to go to your stupid poor people home. Just let me have breakfast and you can go back to your precious 'room.' Just stay still, ok?"

He grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me till we were a hair's width apart. He looked at my wide eyes and then trained his attention on my neck.

"A-are you sure you can do this properly?" I stuttered when he tilted my head back.

"I've done this to thousands of girls more jumpy than you. Calm down." His breath tickled my neck and I tried to stop from shuddering. The mouth that has apparently been in thousands of women was soon going to be in me.

"Nervous?" He whispered. I could hear the smugness in his voice.

"N-no," I whispered back, feigning innocence. "It's just that…this reminds me a lot of what my last boyfriend used to do."

Score one for Cassie.

He stiffened and then gave me an incredulous look. "…Get out."

"What?" I asked, truly surprised. "B-but you didn't eat-"

"Get out."

"Fine!" I said and marched out. He slammed the door behind me. I looked down the dark hallway.

"Could you tell me where my room is?" I called through the door.

Silence.

"Jack?"


	6. One year down, an eternity to go

It turns out that my blood is extremely, e _xtremely_ potent. Above average. Ridiculously powerful.

Great, huh?

I couldn't be the prettiest girl.

I couldn't be the smartest girl.

I couldn't be the fattest girl.

I had to be the most delicious girl, making anyone who gets even a whiff of my blood go crazy.

The new cast on my arm was really uncomfortable. It was all chunky and rough and heavy, but at least it made the pain stop.

I had been tossing and turning the whole night. The room was big and unfamiliar and the strange noises outside the windows were keeping me awake: mainly birds and forest animals. It was morning after all, but thanks to the thick black drapes my room was pitch black.

Suddenly there was a loud stomach growl on the other side of the bed. I twisted around and was face to face with Jack. I bit back a scream, and he pressed a shaky finger to his lips.

He was in dressed in silk pajama bottoms and nothing else.

Nothing.

"Hey, I finally found you," he said while crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "Do you know how many rooms there are? It took me a whole four hours, but I found you."

I stared at him and his nipples in shock. "Y-yes, you did…Your Grace." He definitely was not supposed to be in here. If my luck from the past week could be trusted, this would not turn out well.

"Oh, you could cut all that formal stuff. We're like family now, right? I signed the contract! Soon, we can all have dinner together and play games and eat food, and lunch…is it cold in here or is it just me?" He shivered for effect and padded over to my bed and sat down on the thick coverlet.

I was buried underneath a thick down quilt and dressed in my cotton kitty pjs, but the proximity still did not seem far enough. This was a guy that, up until two days, I had only seen on TV and now he was sitting half naked on my bed telling me he was cold.

"…I'm not cold."

"Well," he said with a weary sigh. "I am just freezing! It's early in the morning and I've been looking for you for hours. I'm just going to let myself in."

I gulped as he pulled the cover over his chest and smiled cozily. He scooted closer to me and I jumped when I felt his cold foot touch mine.

"Hey, do you know what time it is?"

I shook my head fervently and tried not to relay my panic.

"Might be breakfast since I'm feeling kind of hungry."

Oh. Ok. I know where this is going.

"You know what would be fun? If we did a sort of breakfast in bed thing," he said.

"But I don't have any breakfast-"

"We'll worry about that later!" He said and his voice got all high pitched and panicky.

"I don't think this is a good idea," I said and scooted away. He closed the gap on his hands and knees.

"Listen, I have complete and total control over myself. You don't need to worry about anything!"

I scooted even farther back until my butt was hanging off the bed. "You should think about what you are doing before you do it."

"I've thought about this for two days. I'm done thinking."

There was an awkward silence as even he must have realized how wrong that sounded, but then there was the low 'snick' as his fangs descended.

The moment he struck was the moment I leaned back and grabbed a bottle from the nightstand.

I sprayed it in his face and he jerked back on the bed and began rubbing his eyes.

"What the- what the hell is that? Holy water?" He whined.

Lucky for me, it was. Terry gave it to me the day I was discharged from the hospital.

"Just in case," she had said.

"Ah! O-okay, I'm so sorry. Just stay here and I'll go get some help," I yelled and tried to get to the door.

"No! My sister and parents don't know I'm here…WHY DO YOU HAVE HOLY WATER ON YOU? THIS STUFF BURNS!"

I stumbled around in a circle before running to the bathroom, cupping a handful of water and running back to him.

"Uh, ok. I'm about to perform standard eye flushing procedure. P-please tilt your head back and try not to move." I poured water in his eyes and he tried to lie back without flinching.

"All better?" I asked. He rubbed his eyes for a while and then turned his back to me.

"No."

There was another awkward silence as I tried to figure out what to say. "Uh, w-what about all those servants you have lurking around. Can't they bring you some blood from the pantry or cellar or wherever you keep it?"

"I don't want that blood. I want your blood. I _really_ want it."

My resolve was crumbling faster than Jack's self control. There was no I was going to be able to stay in that house. Time for plan Cop Out.

"I know this girl, she works in the Waffle House and she's a SweetBlood too. I bet she'd love living here. And she's a werewolf so her blood regenerates twice as fast."

He stared at me with a confused look. "Wait. Are you saying you want to leave? You get your own room in a castle. You get to live with the royal family. You're getting four free years at Jorgen U. You get to see me without my shirt on, and you want to leave."

Well, when he says it like that it makes me seem like the bad guy.

"Wasn't it part of the deal? I find you another SweetBlood and I'm free to go?"

"No, the deal was you find someone as good as you and if we were willing to accept them."

"Listen! It's three o clock in the fucking afternoon and I haven't eaten anything for two days straight! Stay still," he said and climbed over to me.

"Go back to bed, or at least put a shirt on. I don't want to go back to the hospital," I said and frantically backed away from him. He pulled me back effortlessly and straddled my waist while holding my flailing arms together. If he thought that sitting on my stomach sans shirt was going to calm me down, then he obviously knew nothing about women.

"Ssh! Calm down, I'm going to try and not hurt you, but I need to do it now. If I don't eat soon I am going to pass out," he growled.

He was making sense. He missed breakfast, and kicked me out before feeding time.

I gulped and bared my neck. "Fine! I'll do it, but don't freak out again."

He brushed my hair away and then narrowed his eyes, "Try to shut up this time. I don't like thinking about other guys when I eat."

He lowered his mouth to my jugular and then paused.

"What are you waiting for?" I whispered, annoyed. The longer he took the more of a chance someone would walk in and catch us. Knowing my luck, they were probably at the door.

I felt something soft and pulsing at my neck. It wasn't as painful as before. In fact it felt kind of nice. Almost like…

" _Are you kissing my neck?"_ I gasped.

He sat up quickly, "Maybe. Do you like it?"

I gaped at him and then pushed him off my stomach. He fell back clumsily and scowled at me.

"No! I don't like it! Weren't you supposedly starving? What happened to that? How is it that your need for food is superseded by your need to be liked? What is wrong with you?" The words tumbled out on top of each other as I tried to rid myself of the violated feeling.

"How do you not like it?" He whispered furiously, signaling for me to keep my voice down. "Any other girl would have been screaming my name by now, and you don't like it? What is wrong with _you_ , hm?"

"Because it's weird and gross! I don't like you touching me like that!"

He ripped at his hair like he was trying to pull it out.

"Why don't you like me?" He exclaimed. He shut is mouth with wide eyes, like he didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Excuse me?" I bundled the covers over my body and scooted away. The more distance, the better. Someone was obviously going mad with hunger and that is never a good sign when cannibalism is in your nature.

"See! You're doing it now! It's like you don't even want to be near me! You reject my breakfast in bed proposal; you bring up your lawyer when I try to eat. Even when I was trying to be nice, you brought up your ex boyfriend and started asking me about my girlfriends! Who does that?" He yelled and ran an exasperated hand through his hair.

"I don't understand why I have to like you," I tried to explain. "You're my boss! I'm not supposed to be all chummy and touchy feely with you. I give you blood, you give me money. I'm not supposed to like you."

"But everyone likes me! And you're a girl so that goes double. How can you not like me?"

I frowned and cleared my throat. There was no polite answer to that so better to change the subject.

"Listen, are you hungry or not?"

A minute passed as he stared at me and slowly shook his head like I was the crazy one.

He sighed and made a move toward my neck but I shrunk back. "Oh no, no. Not this time, I learned my lesson," I said and held out my wrist.

He scrunched his nose up like he smelled something bad. "You're demoting me to your wrist?"

I shrugged and he looked away with a grimace. "It's like everything I do makes it worse," he said to himself before plunging his fangs into my wrist.

A blissful numb encompassed my arm. He finished and pushed the arm back to me, still looking away.

It was already healing up. "Ok, listen Jack," I began. "Stop thinking about this like I'm just another girl. Try to imagine me as a person who you can talk to normally and who you can do things with without any pressure of me liking you."

"Like a friend?" He asked. "But you're a girl."

It was like talking to a four year old.

"Yes, I know. I'm a girl, but that's ok. We can still be friends."

"Best friends?" He suggested.

"No! Just regular friends. Friends who don't perform blood rituals on one another and let each other go back home," I corrected and stopped myself from trying to beat that thought into him.

"And again with that stupid home," he griped, and I rolled my eyes. "How does friends sound?"

He shrugged and held out his hand. I grasped it and we shook.

My friends, you have just witnessed the beginnings of a fatal and hideous friendship.

Thirteen months later…

The water was steaming hot and scorched my skin, but in a good way. My shower was huge and had massage water spouts coming from all sides. I had been waking up to the feeling of boiling magic fingers for over a year and it never managed to get old.

"Hurry up!"

That, however, did.

I jumped and covered my naked body fruitlessly. The shower was separated from the rest of the room by a thin glass door. Luckily the steam was in all the right places: everywhere.

"Get out!" I screamed. Jack threw up his hands and leaned against the glass. "You get out! I haven't eaten in like…forever!"

This friend thing was really taking a toll on my sanity. Sometimes, I think it would have been better if I let him date me and dump me. Sure, it would have been uncomfortable living in the same house afterwards, but that's a small price to pay.

For some reason, Jack confused friendship with being weird and a stalker. At first, he would keep me up until evening talking about useless crap for hours, because that's what friends do.

They talk for forever.

Then he'd make me go everywhere with him, whether it was walking the dog or press conference.

Sadly, there was nothing much I could do about. Since I was a nocturnal creature, Terry had difficulty visiting me. He was the only 'friend' I had left.

Then as he began to get more comfortable, he would take me out on dates. With other girls.

He'd pick up a girl in the limo and then take us to some fancy restaurant in the mountains, and all the while she would be staring at me in confusion.

The brave ones would ask about me when they heard Jack reserve a table for three. I'd hide my face in embarrassment as he explained, "Cassie? Oh she's just my friend. She goes _everywhere_ with me."

No, Jack. That's a stalker.

Sometimes the girl would leave outraged, and Jack would say, "That's ok. We'll get another one. She was pretty hot though, right?" And then sometimes the girl would stay. Things would get really weird after that.

The worst part was: he never introduced me because I already knew them. I was the one who called them up, and arranged the dates in his binder. Though as time went on, the number of dates he went on lessened considerably. But sometimes I wish he would take me on dates compared with other things we've done.

One night was boiling hot, and I kept the air conditioner on full blast for about 4 days. And then it exploded, wrecking my room and turning it into a volcano.

While they fixed it up, I hung out in Jack's room. No big deal, just watching some TV and occasionally giving a speech about personal space.

But, the room was so cool, and outside was so hellish that I accidentally fell asleep in his bed.

Again, no big deal.

Any normal friend would have woken me up and told me to get the fuck out. And then, being a normal friend, I would have proceeded to get the fuck out.

That night I woke up boiling with someone's cold and sticky chest to my face. It was pitch black and I couldn't even hear breathing. All I could think of is which idiot decided to sleep under a quilt in this heat. I pushed myself away from the body and threw the covers off. It was too hot and too early in the night for that kind of bullshit. And also, who did I wake up next to? I don't remember ever having any big humanoid teddy bears.

"Mm, Cassie?"

I froze. "J-jack?"

He yawned, and pulled the covers over us again. I fell back with a puff and he arranged his arm around my shoulders and pressed his stomach against my side again. I looked around in my paralyzed state to make sure it wasn't a dream.

"Jack?" I tried again.

'Wha-?"

"Why am I in your bed?"

"Because of the *yawn* arondition…*snooze*"

I tried a few more times, but he was out cold and his body was like freezing iron around me.

It was time to resort to plan B.

"Jack? I'm sick and tired of this. I want to go home. I don't want to be your SweetBlood anymore."

His eyes shot open and he was up in a second. I rolled out of bed, and stumbled to my room dripping sweat. "Cassie? Where are you going?"

"Bed."

"Oh ok, whew! I just had the worst dream. I dreamt that you said-"

"Yeah, shut up whatever. It's too hot to hear your voice."

Sadly, waking up next to him happened more often than it should. It's like he doesn't know the difference between friend and girlfriend. And the sad part was that I was beginning to like it. But what I did not like was getting company in the shower.

"Hurry up!" He screamed like a spoiled child. "I want to eat before Jenny gets here!"

"Who?"

"Jennifer De Glenn! Claire's sister, you remember. She's come to give the invitations for her fiesta. Come out before your skin gets all pruned and gross," he complained.

I sighed and shut the water off. Every single damned day with this.

I pulled a towel over myself and waited till he took the hint and turned around.

"Oh come on, it's not like I haven't seen a woman naked before," he said. "I've known you for like fifteen months now. We're friends. We're supposed to see each other naked."

I could tell he liked saying the word 'friends' but that did not make up for the fact that he declared that friends are supposed to see each other naked. Who is telling him these lies?

"Actually, we've only known each other for one year, one month and 17 days," I said.

"You've been counting?"

"Would you leave already?" I asked and pulled my shirt over my head. He spun around and I nearly ripped it in surprise. Luckily my pants were already on.

He sighed and pulled me out of the bathroom. "Ok, I'm out. Now can I eat?" I hated being referred to like a piece of meat, but there was no in arguing about that again.

I held out my wrist and as he opened his mouth a servant entered.

"The Countess of De Glenn is here to see you, your highness."

Jack held back some nasty curses and settled for a dirty look in my direction.

We walked into the foyer and were greeted by a loud piercing squeal.

"OH, JACK! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" A woman screamed. She ran from the couch, pushed me on the floor and wrapped her arms around Jack's neck.

From the ground I noticed she was wearing bright red high heels and a too short red lace cocktail dress. It looked like more of a sleeping gown to me. She had bright red lipstick and eye shadow and rogue. The only thing not red was her deep inky nighttime black hair. She looked like the devil.

And I also noticed that Jack was grimacing and trying to further his body away from her.

"How was the cruise? You have to tell me all about," She said and pulled him toward the couch. She backtracked toward me and thanks to the laws of nature, stepped _on_ me not _through_ me.

She fell on top of me and dropped the huge red boxes she was carrying everywhere.

"Ack! I can't breathe," I gasped, and Jack rushed to help me up. He heaved her up and away and cradled me to his chest. "Are you ok?" he asked and glared at the girl.

"She was so heavy," I whispered and he shushed me and caressed my hair.

All the while I could feel someone's stare burning into my back.

The girl got up and tapped my shoulder. "Hello, I'm Countess Jennifer de Glenn one of Jack's good friends. You've already met my sister Claire. You must be the new _Sang Royale_ I've heard so much about. Cassandra, was it?"

I pulled away from Jack and shook her hand. So this was that Jenny I heard so much about in the shower. She led me to the couch and put on a wide fake smile but then ignored me in the next second. "How are you, Jack?"

"Did you miss me?" She asked, but he ignored her. "I tried calling you the other day, but no one picked up."

He wearily walked to the couch opposite us and plopped down. She continued talking even though he was staring at the ceiling with his head in his hand.

"-I asked about you and no one's seen in you any in of your usual dating spots. It's like you've been hiding. When do you go out? Who do you go out with now? Friends tell friends what they're doing."

So that is where he got his information on friendship.

Jack rolled his eyes. "What's the point of going on dates? You go out with annoying girls for 3 hours and spend money just so you can have company at the movie theater. That's what having a friend is for: to go places with."

Her eyes widened and a genuine but devious smile spread over her features. "I'm your friend Jack. We should go out sometime."

He screwed up his face and snorted. "Yeah right. I don't need any help. I already have a friend who has all that covered. In fact, she's my best…" He looked to me for confirmation and I shook my head. "She's my really good friend."

"Who?" She asked. He pointed to me and her head creaked in my direction.

"Oh. Of course." Her voice was high pitched and angry. "And who are you again, dear?"

"Cassie?"

"No, I mean who are you. What's your title? Are you a baroness or something?"

I shook my head and she seemed to get angrier.

"Why are you in my house anyway?" Jack asked. She turned her attention to him and her smile was back on. "As you can see, I'm dressed in all red because the theme of my party is the _Masque of the Red Death._ The reason I planned this party was in commemoration of keeping your _Sang Royale_ alive for over a year. I'm so proud of you!"

"Actually," I murmured. "That was last month. They got me a cake in the shape of a coffin and everything."

"Of course dear that's wonderful. Jack," she said. "Where did you put those boxes? They were the invitation."

"The invitations were in those boxes?" I asked.

"Darling, I said the invitations _were_ the boxes," she said like I was stupid. "Jack, would you mind getting them?"

He sighed loudly but got up anyway. The moment he was out of sight, she snapped to me.

"So. I bet you think you're so lucky," she cooed. "You've managed to stumble your way into the royal family without even a penny to your name. A true fairy tale, right?"

I nodded slowly, but she shook her head so I stopped.

"Wrong. There are no fairies here. You're in vampire country. The people here were born to eat you up and shit you out. They may seem sweet and kind now, but rest assured that will change. Don't expect to get any false sympathy from me, either. Do you know how long it took me to get this appointment? And yet here you are waking up in Jack's arms like the Queen of the castle with the audacity to stay alive. The royal circuit is a cruel place for people like us. I'd like to think of us as in the same boat: women with ambition. There were thousands of people auditioning for this role, and I'm supposed to believe you got it on just a wing and a prayer? Laughable. So in that sense, we're together and I suppose I owe you a bit of sisterly advice: Your _luck_ will run out, and when it does you better be prepared. Understand?"

I stared at her slack jawed.

"Uh."

"Jack, there you are! It's getting rather late. I'd best be off. Good bye, Jack! Good bye, Lassie!" Jenny giggled as she sauntered to down the exit hall.

"It's Cassie," Jack growled after her. "Now, about my breakfast."

What the hell was that? Was it a threat or a warning?

"Cassie."

Was she a friend or a foe? And most of all was she telling the truth? I had no reason to doubt the validity of what she said. It all sounded true, especially the delivery. Whether threat or warning, it was real.

"Cassie?"

But she thought I actually wanted to be here? What was all that about 'women with ambition'? The girl was a down right freak when you really think about it. Giving speeches to strangers like it was her damn business.

"Caaasssiiieee?"

It couldn't hurt to keep my wits about me though. I guess God was giving me a heads up this time. Jennifer clearly stated that she couldn't be trusted, but what other wolves in sheep's clothing will I meet? They're intentions might not be laid out so neatly. I was in a whole other world. If I was going to survive, I was going to have to become ruthless and vicious. I couldn't trust anyone, and no one would trust me. I'd have to spread castle gossip and give impromptu speeches to strangers. I'd have to-

"OUCH." Jack was happily sucking away at my wrist. "Damn it Jack, we've been over this a million times. Ask first!"


	7. Clever chapter name

"Where was her grandmother born?"

Terry growled and shot an angry look at me. I shrugged helplessly and tried to flash an encouraging smile.

Ever since we became 'friends' Jack had been garnering and unusual hostility toward Terry. He'd roll his eyes and complain about her terrible etiquette whenever I told her she was coming over, however rare it was. And whenever she arrived, he'd grill her with a never ending interrogation about me.

He'd act like they both on a game show competing over who knows me best. Frankly, I don't know how he knew all the answers. I didn't even know the answers to some of them.

Of course, Terry would always lose. He'd snort and say something about her being a terrible best friend and how he'd be much better. I'd try to smile and pretend it was just a funny joke. She'd always say something along the lines of 'I'm leaving'.

Tonight was no different. It was one of the rare times Terry came over and I was ready to beg her to stay. I needed her support more than ever because it was the night I was going to register and tour my new school. Jorgen University, alma mater of the world's best and brightest and richest.

"Why does she have that weird duck shaped scab on her lower back?"

"I have a scar?"

Terry clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "For the last time, I don't give a damn! Cassie, give me one good reason why I should stay here."

"Because we're having fun! Fun, fun, fun! Please don't leave." I was lucky, because I didn't even tell her about the registration. She just came on her own.

"You know what Jack? Keep asking me these questions. I don't care. You know why? Because you will NEVER be her 'best friend'," she said in a mocking baby voice. "Why in the world would she? You're spoiled, bossy and a freak. You're no better than a prison security guard, because the only reason she's even sitting here right now is because you won't let her leave. But don't worry. One day she'll get out of here and you'll be aaaalll aallloooone and only your fake bimbo girlfriends will be there to comfort you. You know where she'll be? She'll be with me, eating ice cream in the park because I'm her best friend and that's what best friends do! I bet she's never eaten ice cream in Sundance Park with you. She did it with me all the time."

The thing about Terry is that she never does anything half baked. If she's going to do something, she's going to do it all the way and give it her best shot. The same goes for her arguments and battles. Either that or she must've been taking some night classes with Jennifer de Glenn.

Fortunately, Jack was getting used to this after seven months and managed not to run off to his room or burst into angry curses like the first time.

Instead he pouted and looked down before taking a deep breath. No doubt swallowing tears and bad words. He even tried to come up with comeback, something unheard of in Terry's repertoire of fights.

"Why did you even come here…ugly? Give me one good reason I shouldn't just kick you out?"

Terry frowned, as if trying to remember and then smiled a wide and evil smile.

She stood up and stretched as if she was getting ready to leave. "So," she started with a half yawn. "You think you know everything about Cassie, right? Well, answer this: Who is Peter Stairwell?"

My heart sped up involuntarily with a burst of adrenaline and I smiled like an idiot.

Jack raised an eyebrow in my direction. "Who? Is that some stupid band?"

She looked at me and smiled a crinkly eyed smile. "Guess who I ran into the other day."

"No way," I exclaimed.

"All the way, baby!" She responded and jumped over to my couch. Jack slid out of the way and was staring at us like we were stupid.

"Where? What did he say?" I asked. She coyly looked up and smiled. "Well, I'm not really sure about the specifics, but I do seem to remember him mentioning your name."

"Eee!" I squealed and hugged myself. I tried to stop giggling because Jack was looking really annoyed at that point.

"Him?" He said. "Peter Lanternshop is a man?"

"Stairwell. Peter Stairwell," Terry annunciated. "I'm surprised you don't know that name. I mean, you do know _everything_ about Cassie, don't you?"

He pursed his lips and glared. "Cassie, who's Peter Lightning Bolt?"

"Yummy," I blurted and then quickly composed myself. Jack looked disgusted and frankly, scared by this whole situation. "I mean, he's just this guy I knew in school. We were good friends."

"Oh, don't be so shy, Cassie," Terry said. "Back in school, Cassie had the biggest crush on him. It was huge. But sadly, it could never be, because he was always with that bimbo Pattie. I hated her…ANYWAYS, they broke up a while ago and I was pretty sure he and Cassie would start going out, but then she met _you_. How does it feel to stand in the way of true love?"

"Stop it, Terry," I said. "We were never going to go out. He was too smart, too handsome, to perfect. It would never have worked out. I'm just happy we were friends. What did he say? Where were you?"

Jack's expression grew tighter and darker. Rainclouds were going to collect over his head any moment. I didn't understand why he looked so upset. Peter was yummy, what can I say? "How come I never heard of Peter Crumbly Nut? I thought you had a boyfriend. "

"I did," I said with a frown, recalling old memories. "For a few days. But then the raspberry incident happened. I knew Peter long before that. I didn't think it was important."

"I guess there are some things Cassie won't share with mediocre friends, right?" Terry said coolly.

That did it. Jack's expression was somewhere near level 1000 of angry. Like a fool, I ignored it and turned to Terry. "Tell me what happened!"

"Well, I was taking the uptown train to go window shopping, you know how expensive it is, when I heard 'Terry?' and I turn and it's him! We small talk for a bit, the usual 'how are you' and then he says 'Where's Cassandra? I thought you two were connected at the hip' or something stupid like that and I'm like she's a little caught up in the moment with school stuff, and then he goes 'Oh, what school is she going to?' 'Jorgen University' and then get this he says 'me too!'"

I gasped and had to keep myself from squeaking. "That's crazy! Are you serious?"

"Completely. And then he says, maybe I should call her sometime, it would be nice to have a friend at school and then I give him your number and then voila! Destiny is sealed."

Jack rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Destiny my ass. So what, you see a guy on a train. That happens all the time. It's not like he asked for her number. You suggested it and he was being polite."

That was true. There was no reason to get worked up about something so small.

"Don't be a jerk, he likes her and she _loves_ him. Love knows no bounds. Who would have foreseen a coincidence like this? I can just imagine it; I'm going to be an auntie to four little babies. You can be the creepy uncle who drinks mommy's blood and won't let her come home for Christmas because he's jealous," Terry said in a pouty voice.

If Jack had been drinking something, he would have spit it out all over the floor. He burst out laughing. "Jealous? Of what? Some snooty man child who's oh so perfect? All this drama and hype for a crush. Please, I thought you were going to say her bastard son returned from the orphanage or something. Now, if you don't mind I think it would be best if you went back to whatever rock you crawled under. It's time for lunch," he said a little quickly.

She drew her skirt around her and stood up indignantly. "Well fine, grumpy. Be like that."

"But you can't leave," I whined. "What about the registration?"

She shrugged. "Don't worry, Mrs. Stairwell. You'll have Peter to keep you company."

"But I want you! Don't leave yet!"

"Sorry, Cass. If I stay any longer I'm afraid Jack will kill me. Look at his face." And then she was gone.

I shrieked when he turned around. Jack looked like death warmed over. He was glaring at me with cruel icy eyes and tense muscles.

"Friends don't kill friends Jack. I thought you knew that," I muttered and offered my wrist up.

He was silent and simply slid a glass cup and a sharp blade across the table. I caught them, confused. "What am I supposed to do with these?"

He plopped onto the couch opposite me and watched me.

"You don't expect me to-"

It was a barbaric custom that ancient aristocrats used to bleed 'unworthy' servants.

"I hired you to do this, now do it," he said in a hard voice.

I jumped and promptly slid the blade across my wrists, it stung and I bit back a cry. The blood flowed freely into the cup, a thick deep liquid ruby. When it was full, I haphazardly clasped my hand around the wound, yet the blood seeped through my fingers. It was a burning pain that spread along my fingers and arms. I wiped unshed tears from my eyes and felt the thickness pass along my face. He drank and then stood up. "You'd better get ready; registration is in a few hours. Your precious Peter will be waiting for you. He'd make better company than me and my fake bimbo girlfriends anyway," he muttered without looking at me and then walked away.

I stared after him and tried not throw my lamp at the door.

"I don't understand what I did! He was fine until Terry came," I complained to Emilie after I got my wrist bandaged.

She shrugged but didn't take her eyes off the television. "I don't know. Maybe he's angry because you made such a big deal about registration. First you were talking about that Lampshade guy, and then you begged Terry to come with you. He wanted to be together when you saw the school, and it's like you didn't even want to be alone with him."

I picked at the bandage and flinched when it stung. That did make sense. "Yeah, but still. He didn't have to make me mutilate myself."

She huffed and looked at me for the first time. "That's because Jack is crazy. Didn't we warn you about that? He's a friggin' psychopath."

"Well, that's not an excuse for-"

"No, it's exactly the excuse. The only excuse. It gives him the right and the means because he is chemically imbalanced. You better get used to it, because you're going to be rooming together."

I gasped and nearly ripped the bandage from me. "Rooming together? Is that some kind of slang term for not sleeping in the same room?"

"He didn't tell you? You're going to have separate bedrooms rooms, but they're going to share the same kitchen, and common area. It's so he can get the blood whenever he needs it. Health reasons and stuff. And for security reasons too. You're a royal now, you need extra protection. It's almost time you better get going."

I nodded and shuffled out the door. "Pray for me," I called.

"No one can help you now."

The limo ride was long and quiet. We sat across from each other. I spent the whole time trying to make small talk, and he spent the whole time ignoring me and staring out the window. Finally, he moved and it was to pass me the glass with the blade clinking inside.

"Again?" I asked. His eyes were watching the clouds. "But you drank an hour ago. I'm not doing this again; I just had it patched up."

In a blur of limbs and cloth, he was close to my face and I was pressed up against the leather. "I'm your boss and you're my SweetBlood. When I say I want something, I get it. No ifs ands buts and especially no nos."

His steely eyes stared into my wide surprised ones. Mood swing much?

We both looked down as I lifted the razor and brought it above the bandage. I couldn't believe I was cutting myself over a guy. Was there no justice.

The area was still sore when I cut and the tears blurred the world. The cup was splattered but full and he sipped a little. Then he threw it out the window.

I shrieked as I watched my lit splash down the highway and on the side of the window.

"Are you crazy?" I shrieked. Trick question, yes, but did he know it?

There was a silence before I scrambled and yanked the driver's partition open. "Jeeves, take me home right now!"

"My name is Mike."

"TAKE ME HOME."

He made a U-turn and I watched with sadistic glee as Jack's eyes went wide and worried.

"You're not my boss. We didn't do the blood ritual. I'm free to go, and I'm going. I quit," I said.

He was shocked but quickly composed myself. "No, you're not free to go. The contract said I could release you when I wanted not the other way around. In fact, if I wanted I could make you do the blood ritual right now, and then keep you in a dungeon and have a servant harvest your blood forever. Turn around, Mitch. We're going back home," His voice rose until it was almost a deafening shout.

My heart fell and my jaw dropped in terror. "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can. This whole university thing is null. It has no weight in the contract and I can remove it at will. I can make sure you never see the light of day again."

He couldn't be serious. He damn near forces me into a stalkerish relationship and just when I get used to it, he buys a one way ticket to crazy town.

"But I thought we were friends. Why would you lock me up?" I stuttered feebly and held my hands together under my chin. Time to make a reversal and go for the pity angle. If he could just turn batshit insane whenever he wanted, there was nothing to stop me from becoming manipulative.

"Why would we be friends when you have Terry and Peter Puff'n'Stuff?" He muttered and frowned deeply. My crocodile tears where eroding his resolve, but they weren't working fast enough.

Greg had made another U-turn and we were driving back to the mansion. My heart fluttered in fear and I began shaking.

"I like you, I really do. I thought we were friends," I said quickly and cast nervous glances out the window.

He jutted out his chin and crossed his arms. My breath came in gasps as the accumulated tears fell freely. The fear was real now, and seemed to work better then the phony panic.

He raised an eyebrow at me and half smiled. "Are you crying?"

The tears flowed harder and I started making hideous crying noises. "I can't believe you're actually crying. I wasn't being serious." He even laughed a little.

My weeps turned to sobs and I buried my face in my knees. His smile melted off and he started turning panicky. "Ok, ok calm down. Why are you even crying?"

My throat was swollen and my voice came out in a muddled garble. "Because you hate meeee. You want to lock me u-u-u-u-u-uuuuupp."

"Oh come on, you aren't really taking me seriously. I'm not going to lock you in the family dungeon. I don't even know if we have one. If we did, it probably would be all old and moldy. We'd have to clean out first before anyone could use it. It would take weeks before you could be locked in there."

My weeping turned into full blown wailing. He hated me, but he was nice enough to clean the dungeon. That's a step up.

"I don't caaaare! I want to go hoooome! You may not be serious, but I am!"

I quelled my tears enough to realize the car had stopped. We were at a red light in the middle of an empty crossroads. With one angry glance back I yanked the door open and ran out. He was in front of me in a second. "Fine. Relax. We're going home anyway. Go back in the car and we'll talk this over." He took my hand and I yanked it away. "No, _my home._ I want to go to my home, Jack."

"For the last time you can't! It doesn't matter what you want! In the end it's _my_ decision!" He took an intimidating step toward me and I glowered back. Without thinking, my hand shot out and it was like pushing a muscled boulder.

"Stop treating me like I'm your slave! I thought you were supposed to be my friend!"

"I am, it's ju-"

With ever sentence I took a step towards him and he stumbled back.

"No! You said it yourself! You're my boss and I'm just some stupid employee who you don't care about!"

"I do care, but-"

"You care? Really? Is that why you made me mutilate myself?"

"Ok, I'm sorry about-"

"Sorry? For what? The first or the second time I had to slice myself open? Or maybe for when you threw my blood out the window like it didn't mean shit!"

"I WAS JEALOUS, OK?" He threw his hands in the air and kicked a rock which exploded into a tree in the distance. "All week you've been talking 'Terry' and how you were so happy she was coming over, like it was so horrible being with me. And then when she comes over you ignore me and then all you talk about for half an hour Peter Nutty Stuff! You even said you'd rather be with that guy you haven't seen in almost a year. Even though the whole reason we're going to the registration instead of sending my parents or our concierge is so I could see it with you!"

He kicked some more rocks and they ruined some trees and other boulders in rapid succession. In the seven months I had known Jack, jealousy was something to be joked about. Him getting jealous was an urban legend the likes of the hook man or babysitter killer. And yet here he was, practically yelling it at me. Even more unexplainable was his hilarious inability to get Peter's last name right.

"It's Peter Stairwell," I murmured

He stiffened and clutched his hands into fists.

"And yes, right now, I'd rather see it with some random person than you. This is why you have no friends."

I turned but he was in front of me. "I'm sorry. I apologized. Are you happy now? Can we just go back home?"

I stared at him in disbelief. Did he really think a half hearted apology would fix anything? I pushed him with all my might, but this time he was caught off guard. He fell back and looked up at me in dismay.

Before he could say anything my foot collided with his face. It felt like I stepped on a land mine and he barely flinched.

"Oooo," I tried to bite back the scream and I fell into the dirt across from him. He rubbed the side of his face. "Ow, that actually kind of hurt."

As he spoke, I noticed something strange in his mouth. My eyes went wide and I was launched into panic mode. "Jack…I-I didn't mean to…I'm really sorry," I stuttered. He looked perplexed for a moment and then his eyes went wide too as his tongue felt around his mouth. He spat one long pearly fang onto his palm. There was no blood. We just stared at his hand for a long time.

"Are we even?" He asked softly. I gulped and tentatively closed his hand around the tooth. "Does it hurt?"

"You didn't answer my question."

The shaking started up again, and I felt like I was going to start hyperventilating. "Mhm. Whatever you say, Jack. We're e-e-ev ohmigod; I think I'm going to throw up. I think I broke my toe."

He looked at me blankly from the ground and then stood up. "I think I should be angry right now, but I'm not. I think I'm in shock." I warily watched his hand, but let him pull me up. "I think we better go home."He nodded and climbed into the limo besides me. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm going to get pretty angry."

I shuddered at the thought of what the next few days would hold. He was just jealous today. But now I've practically disfigured him. It was not going to be pretty.

The car started up and we drove back home.

"Jack?"

"Hm?" He was still staring at his tooth.

"I really do like you. I was happy being friends."

"Me too," he said blankly. "Can we still be friends?"

I licked my lips and suppressed another shudder. "Why don't you ask me that again in a few hours?"


	8. Well, that was anticlimactic

Later, I found myself on the same couch in the living room that I was in seven months before surrounded by the Hunter family. When Jack and I arrived home, it was already late, but now it was practically morning.

"We are extremely disappointed in you," Aunt Sally said. She and Uncle Robert were standing behind the tall chair Jack was sitting in. Every time they looked away he would glare at me with hellfire in his eyes. But right now he was as calm as ever.

"We just don't know what to think. You do know the penalty for assaulting a member of the royal family, right?" Robert asked.

I nodded. Torture or death.

"As long as we keep this within St. Sesame we won't have to deal with any of that. We consider you a part of the family now and would never want to put you in a harmful situation, but I'm afraid you're going to have to be punished," Aunt Sally said and sat on the arm rest.

Emilie was shaking her head and giving me an 'I-told-you-so' face.

"Why do you have to punish her? Jack probably deserved it. It's not like she staked him or anything. The doctor did say it would grow back in a few months. No need to get all drastic now," she said.

"Accusing kind Jack of a wrongdoing? We've had enough of your back talk. Go to your room," Uncle Robert demanded.

While their attention was on Emilie, Jack glared at me and ran a long finger across his throat. I

She threw her hands in the air like she gave up on this a long time ago and left.

"Now, you've been with us for a while now. You know that we don't tolerate kicking people in the face. You've never done anything like this before. What's happened? Is there something you would like to talk about?" Uncle Robert asked me.

I looked down. Before this, Emilie said the best thing to do was to stay quiet. No matter how I tried to defend myself, they'd always find away to justify Jack's behavior. Even if that meant totally ignoring whatever evidence I had. But I had a trick up my sleeve.

"What do you think your punishment would be? What do you think you deserve?" Aunt Sally said.

I shrugged. "I'm really sorry for what I did. I don't know what had gotten into me. Maybe I was possessed by some kind of demon. Who knows, it may still be inside me. I think the best thing to do is fire me. As long as I'm in this house, I'm a danger and liability to all your faces. It would be best to send me back home. I think manage without a limo or automatic orange juicer."

Aunt Sally kneeled in front of me and sighed. She was tall and still reached eye level with me even on her knees. "Cassie, this is your home. We don't ever want you to feel like you don't belong here or don't have anywhere to stay."

"But I do have a place to stay. You know the place where I lived before I met you guys?"

"The hospital?" Uncle Robert asked."Oh no darling, don't fret. We're not going to send you to the hospital. Our punishment would never be anything that bad. We love you like a daughter. We don't want to hurt you. We just need to make sure learned your lesson and don't go around messing up people's faces anymore."  
"The hospital? Are you even listening? I want to be with my parents," I said loudly and clearly.

"Aw, isn't that sweet, Robert? She thinks of us like parents. Of course we'll let you keep living with us and we'll never ever-"

Oh snap.

"-EVER-"

Freaking out.

"- _EVER-"_

Here we go.

"-Let you go. We love you like a daughter, Cassie. You're one of us now. There's nothing that can take you away from us." She made that sound like a threat.

"Nothing," Uncle Robert said darkly.

I stared at them and they stared at me in a loaded silence.

"Anyways, I think we've all learned a valuable lesson. Right Cassie? No more kicking people in the face. We'll let you off punishment this time since you're so cute. Now give us a hug."

They embraced me, and were gone before I could realize.

"Wait! Don't leave me alone with-"

"So, you think you're funny?" Jack whispered in my ear. Somehow, he was behind me which was weird because I had just been staring at him.

I whipped around. "Funny? Why would I be funny? I hate jokes. I love being serious and …alive," I said and backed up. His head was cocked and arms folded. He looked perplexed at my anxiety.

"It was pretty funny how you disfigured me and then weaseled out of trouble with my parents. You know what time it?" He took a step toward me and I stared up him with wide eyes.

"Um. Bedtime?" I took a few steps back. Well, not a few. More like all the way until my back was pressed up against the door to the veranda. In hindsight, I probably should have made a mad dash for my room, however futile it was.

I could feel the foreign sunlight burning through the glass and onto my skin. He zoomed in front of me and leaned a hand against the door.

"Well for me it is. You? Not so much." I heard a low 'click' as he turned the knob of the door and prepared to send me to a bright and sun shiny doom. My eyes and skin had only experienced the sun through TV and pictures for seven months. Any sudden exposure would do something terrible.

"Jack! D-did I tell you…that…uh-you l-look kind of cute with only one tooth? Like a little rascal! Or a little English orphan um, Oliver Twist! You little s-silly Alfalfa," I babbled on incoherently for a few more seconds before he pushed the door open and I fell on my back.

He slammed it and I shrunk into the shadows of the porch as I watched the sun crawl toward me. The sun blinded me and the chirping birds shook my soul to the core. I banged the glass door frantically and scratched at the walls. "Jack! Let me in! It's hot out here! This isn't funny!" I screamed.

Only silence.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I'll do anything, just let me back in!"

Still nothing. I pressed myself to the wall with my arms outstretched like a criminal hiding from the police.

"Jack? Jack I'll…I'll let you drink from my neck from now on! Um, for forever! You won't have to drink from my wrist anymore."

The sun was creeping closer and closer to my splayed out body.

The door flew open and I fell onto my back and scooted away from the strangely mobile sun.

I hit a pair of legs. I looked up and Jack was staring at me with pure shock written all over his face.

"Huh?" He asked intelligently.

"You can bite my neck. Just shut the door, please!" I said quickly and tried to push back farther.

With a flick of his wrist the room was once again wonderfully dark.

"That's an interesting proposition," he said and kneeled down. I swallowed and resisted the urge crawling away.

"Whatever you want, just no more revenging, ok? I'm sorry, I really am."

He stood up and pulled me up along with him. We were close before, but when he held my chin in his hands and pulled me closer we were barely a hair's width apart.

"Whatever I want?" he asked.

I narrowed my eyes, frowned and began to wonder what 'whatever' really meant.

"If whatever means permission to drink from neck and that only then yes," I answered slowly.

"We'll see," he said and brushed the hair from neck. He lowered his mouth and I shuddered as his breath tickled me.

I squeezed my eyes together as he bared his teeth and just as he was about to bite-

"What the hell are you guys doing?"

I screamed and propelled myself away from Jack. He yelped and placed a hand over his face in annoyance. He bit his tongue.

Emilie was standing in the hallway in her pajamas and she was holding my cell.

"Is this what you guys do when you think everyone is sleeping?" she asked and threw the phone at me.

"Your phone has been ringing incessantly. I was wondering why you weren't picking up, but now I know," she said cheekily and disappeared down the hall.

I shrugged happily at Jack. "Hello?"

"Uh, Cassandra? Hey, it's Peter!"

I scrambled away from Jack and started fixing my hair for some strange reason. "Stairwell? Peter Stairwell? H-hey, what's going on? It's almost eleven o clock in the morning, what are you doing up?"

There was a pause and I realized how stupid that sounded. "I mean eleven o clock…that's a proper time for people to be awake. Definitely."

Damn it to hell. Jack was staring at me disbelievingly. I knew he could hear everything.

"Right. Anyways, I saw your friend Terry the other day and she said you were going to Jorgen University but I was there yesterday and I didn't see you. So I figured I'd call you. There were so many people there though…I might have missed you."

He missed me? Eee!

"Oh, I wasn't there. I was dealing with some," I peeked at Jack and he raised a cold eyebrow. "…stuff. We had to get someone to register for us."

"We?"

"ME! I had to get someone else to register for me, alone." I made a face and tried to avoid the death rays coming from behind.

"Ok, that's great I guess. We should get together some time and talk. It would be nice to have a friend in such a huge place. Did I tell you about the thesis paper I wrote to that got me in? I had to go through a series of interviews with-"

"Get together? Sure that would be great!"

"Ok, awesome. How about today? I'll pick you up at two."

I nearly dropped the phone. Two was an ungodly hour of the day when no one was awake. My eyes were already heavy from sleep and it was only eleven. How would I hold up three hours from now?

And pick me up? From where? Certainly not from St. Sesame, but definitely not from my old house.

"Uh…Why don't I just meet you at Satin Garden? Okey dokey, see you then bye." Click.

Okey dokey?

I leaned against the couch and ran an exasperated hand through my hair. How was I supposed to pull this off? I was exhausted and I had no way of getting to the garden at this time. And how was I supposed to get back in time to feed-

Oh no. The phone crashed to the ground as my brain tried to escape my body. I whipped around and Jack was drumming his fingers against the couch and glaring at me.

"Uh…want to meet another one of my friends?" I asked with a wide nervous smile.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Completely. We're gonna have so much fun!" I smiled insanely and flashed two thumbs up. He rolled his eyes, but disappeared down the darkened hall.

I exhaled a breath I didn't even know I was holding. Then I remembered why. Did I just invite Jack to go on a date with me with the one person he despises before they've even met?

Why, yes. Yes I did.

Once again, the car ride was long and quiet, but this time we weren't in a limo. We were in the old Ferrari, the only normal looking not fancy car I could convince Jack to get. I was driving. He was glaring at the road and was slouching in his seat like a spoiled five year old.

Originally he had been driving, but thanks to the fact that he nearly drove us off a cliff while staring disgustedly at me and shaking his head, we had to switch.

Now he just refused to talk to me as I tried to navigate the road through the heavily tinted window. And we were also wearing sunglasses. It was too bright to do anything else. I was wearing long sleeved everything and one of those stupid rainbow umbrella hats. Jack had just decided on a long coat, similar to the ones serial killers wear.

"Could you at least smile, please? You're going to scare everyone," I said as we neared our destination.

Satin Garden was an outdoor wonder-field of games and attractions, flowers and meadows, benches and hot dog stands. People frequently went there to fish or walk their dogs, or go on romantic dates without third wheels.

Also, sunlight. Lots and lots of sunlight.

I parked under little hut, and subsequently ran over a bunch of benches, tables, a barbecue grill and a family's picnic. "S-sorry!" I called through the cracked window.

The father was about to say something, but after staring at our car for a minute he smiled and started apologizing to us, before he pushing his family and their ruined picnic to another hut.

' _Weird'_ I thought but then I noticed Jack glaring at them through his window.

"You're such a jerk," I muttered and threw a bunch of hundred dollar bills I found in the glove compartment after them.

He was silent and I stuck my head farther out the window to try and find Peter. I called him while I was driving and told him to meet us at that spot.

When I told him I was bringing a guest, he didn't seem all that annoyed.

"Terry?" he had asked.

"Sure, why not?"

After five seconds I had to shut the window and stick my head in the air condition. When did the sun become so hot and burny?

Suddenly, like a halo in the darkest cave, I spotted a tall familiar silhouette walking into the hut.

I honked the horn and Peter squinted through tinting and saw me waving furiously through the tinted window. He smiled and opened the back door.

"Hey Cassandra! Long time no see, huh? Who's this-OH MY GOD IT'S DUKE JACK HUNTER!"

I cringed at his voice level and general estrogenic outburst. "Yeah, get in the car now please. Do you mind if we go somewhere else?"

He slammed the door and ignored me, too focused on Jack who was too focused on staring at me who was too focused on trying to get Peter's attention.

"What in the hell? What are you doing here? I can't believe it! I was just watching you on TV the other day you know, with the press conference about the Cran famine and that whole relief effort you organized was simply brilliant…"

His voice filled the car with an annoying biography on Jack's recent exploit. I hit my head against the staring wheel and began to wonder where my life went wrong.

"I was thinking of driving to that seafood restaurant, so we could talk about school and stuff. Jack's going to Jorgen also-" I tried to say cheerily.

"You're going there too? Oh, I see that's how Cassandra got there. No offense but not just anyone gets into Jorgen University. The tuition is five figures. I was actually in this competition with a few other kids in the country, for a full scholarship and we all had to go for the final interviews with the deans of the school. I aced the interview because in those high pressure situations I have a sort of charisma and-"

And he was off. I snuck a look at Jack who looked just about ready to strangle Peter.

I sighed. Why couldn't I have been with Peter? Oh right. Because he was too perfect. So perfect, even he couldn't get enough of himself. Because that was all he could talk about. The memory is a funny thing.

"Get out of the car."

Peter stopped talking for the first time and gave Jack an incredulous look. "W-what? But-"

"Get out of the car, Peter Nanda-Tandy." His tone was harsh and Peter scrambled out of the car but kept the door open.

"But what about you, Cassandra? Are we still going to the park? It's been such a long time. After I broke up with Patty, I always found myself thinking of you."

My heart jumped involuntarily. "Really? You were thinking of me? Because I always wanted-"

"Good bye, Peter Scrotum," Jack said loudly, and I quickly pulled myself out of Peter's brain trap.

"Oh, ok! Bye! I hope to see you later at-"

I turned the car into the street and away from Peter's false flattering words.

As we drove back home, our positions were reversed. I was the one glaring at the road and Jack was trying to lighten the mood. But every time he opened his mouth I shut him down.

"I th-"

"If the next words out of your mouth are 'I told you so' I'm crashing the car into a tree," I snapped.

He paused. "I think you handled that situation pretty well."

"Whatever."

He grinned slyly. "Exactly. Whatever I want. And right now, I'm pretty hungry. And tired. When we get home, meet me in my room and bring your pajamas. We're going to have some bonding time."It was then that I realized that I had no idea what 'whatever' really meant.


	9. Let the denial start now!

Sun…too bright.

Eyes…so tired.

"Jack…Jack!" I growled and yanked the car off the dirt. It veered back into the one lane road with a loud screech. Jack was curled up in his seat sleeping like a rock.

"Jack, get up. I need you to drive. I'm falling asleep."

No answer.

I struggled to keep my eyes on the road and shake Jack awake at the same time. The car swerved off road and nearly hit a giant prickly cactus.

Aw, hell. Who am I kidding? We did hit the cactus.

I was startled by a loud snore. By the itch of my throat it came from me. I peeled my forehead from the steering wheel and smeared the drool from my mouth. Something was wrong and it wasn't the fact that I felt really disgusting.

"Jack?" I realized, and whipped around. He was staring at me from the back seat, his legs outstretched and arms folded behind his head. "That's sweet," he said with a grin. "You crash the car in the middle of the desert and I'm the first person you think about?"

"I crashed the car?" And that's when I remembered that a few seconds before I fell asleep, I was driving. The front was barely dented, but we were at an odd angle with the ground and the giant cactus keeping us from tumbling into the gorge.

The sun was barely peeking its red head above the horizon. The sky was an array of red and pink that merged into purple and blue as the sun went lower.

"Damn. What are we supposed to do now? I think it's dark enough for us to walk back, or maybe we should call somebody," I suggested while trying to get the nasty desert taste from my mouth. The glove compartment would hold a bunch of mouth cleaning stuff. This was one of Jack's dating cars. Sure enough, I was right.

"It should take you a few hours on foot."

"Hours? But I know where the mansion is. And you're a vampire. You can do that run fast thing. We just have to follow this road for a few miles. You could do that in a few minutes," I said. The air condition was still working, and the gas was still full. It was just the tricky matter of getting all four wheels on the ground without tumbling off the cliff.

"Listen, you can do whatever you want, a _fter_ I eat _."_ He said, and climbed into the driver's seat _that I was still sitting in._

"What are doing? You could drink from your own seat." I hissed, thoroughly embarrassed because he was straddling my hips and leaning over me. I pushed my wrist toward him, but he caught it and pinned it above my head.

"Oh no. No more interruptions this time. I said you could do whatever you want _after_ I eat, but before that it's whatever _I_ want. Now tilt your head." He said and bent closer to my neck.

Tilt my head? Why would I- oh yeah. I remember now.

"Jack, it's only been a couple hours. You know, I haven't eaten yet either. Couldn't you wait a little longer? Maybe until we're back home and have adult supervision…"

He shifted down until we were facing each other. "Stop being a pansy. It's just like all the other times I've eaten."

I looked away and felt my face heat up. He knew very well this was totally different.

Jack sighed and then shifted my neck gently. "It'll be ok. I promise." He bared his teeth and then sunk them into my neck.

I tensed and squeezed my eyes shut. A tickling feeling spread up to my chin and down to my shoulders. I bit my lip hard to keep from squirming. It was like my neck fell asleep. The smooth skin of my lip gave away to my sharp teeth and my eyes widened as I felt warm blood seep through.

Immediately the tickling sensation stopped and Jack slowly lifted his head. "What's that smell?" he muttered even though his eyes darted straight to my mouth.

I swallowed and tried to think of something to say, because the silence was becoming awkward and creepy.

"J-jack? Say something."

His eyes flickered to mine and he licked his lips. "Don't move. I'm going to try and climb off of you without any accidents."

Accidents? I racked my brain for any possible accidents that might happen. He might snap my neck off or…

He released my hands and sat up slowly. He took a deep breath and gave me a smug smile.

"That's progress," I said quietly, and immediately his mouth was on mine. He licked the blood and then bit harder, drawing more blood. But then, after a few seconds, he wasn't siphoning blood anymore. He was-

Kissing. Kissing might happen also.

His hand went around my waist and pulled me closer as his other hand ran through my hair roughly. Automatically, I felt myself responding and my arms were around his neck and yanked him down.

His eyes widened at the force and I felt him smile against me. He positioned himself between my legs, ran a rough hand up my shirt.

"AH!" I screamed and dropped my hands from his head like it was on fire.

He shot up and hit his head on the ceiling. "Ouch! What!? Did I hurt you?"

I sat up and pulled my shirt down, "W-what just happened?"

He cocked his head in confusion, "What do you mean? We were just- oh."

He ripped his hands from my waist and hair.

We stared at each other of a long while, with our hands in the air. He bit his lip and looked to the side. His nice soft kissable lips…

My eyes widened and I scrambled out from under him and sat with my knees pressed to my chest.

"Ok, you ate. Go fix the car now," I said hurriedly.

He looked back at me with a hurt look and then reached for my wrist, a comforting gesture he often did before I crashed the car.

And by the way, from now on, this is how we will refer to that above situation: as 'that time I crashed the car'.

I smacked his hand away and squeezed my knees tighter to my chest. He pouted and then zipped out the car.

In an instant it was pulled back onto the road and he sat back inside.

We drove for a few moments, silent and a very embarrassed. "We are never going to talk about this again," I said.

There was a pause.

"Sorry," Jack mumbled. "I didn't know I was that repulsive."

"We learn new things every day, don't we?" I snapped.

I concentrated on the road until my eyes burned, but I still winced when I heard his sharp intake of breath.

There was a low puff of wind and when I looked, Jack was gone.

I closed my eyes in frustration, but then quickly opened them after remembering what happened last time.

It was dark by the time I arrived back. I veered the car onto the sidewalk and let a servant take care of the rest.

"There you are," Emilie said when I got in the door. She was still in her pajamas. "I was wondering where you guys went. What happened? Jack came here like an hour ago and he won't say a word."

I shrugged, and walked down the hall. I beat myself up enough on the way here. I didn't need to feel anymore guilt.

"Go find out what happened. He trusts you," she said.

That's exactly what I needed to here at the moment.

She pushed me in the direction of Jack's room.

"I don't think he wants to talk to me right now," I groaned, but she waved me off.

"It'll be fine. I mean, it's not like you blew him off in the cruelest way possible, after he bared his heart to you as the only girl he's ever had a real relationship with despite trying his best to do whatever it takes to make you happy. Because that would make you a bitch."

We stopped in front of his room. "He told you what happened, didn't he?"

"Big sister knows everything." She pushed me in and Jack was lying face down on the bed.

"Jack?" she cooed.

"Leave me alone."

"Feel better," She said and slammed the door.

"I'm sorry, Jack," I said blandly and tried to turn the knob. It wouldn't budge. No doubt because Emilie was holding it closed.

"Go home."

He didn't move from his spot except to ball his hand into a fist.

"What?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"You're free. You're obviously not happy here, and all you can think about is going home, so go. I'm sorry for being selfish."

I rolled my eyes and shifted footing. "Don't overreact, Jack. I'm sorry that I-that I crashed the car."

"Keep it. You can use it to drive back home."

"Jack, you know I can't go home. You'll starve. Now get up. Stop overreacting."

I walked over to the bed and shook him. "Please get up, Jack. I'm sorry I said those mean things and you made you feel bad."

He didn't move.

I screwed up my face in frustration and whispered into his ear, "The truth is I said those things because I was…I was kind of shocked by h-how much I was…not repulsed by… _kissing you_."

I said the last words through gritted teeth, because I was still kind of shocked. How did that happen? When did I become like every girl out there; just a slave to Jack's charms? And now that I 'crashed the car' my worst fears were coming true. He'd use me up, and then throw me out and I'd have to leave the house and Emilie and the limo and… him.

So therefore, it was my duty to resist this stupid _infatuation_ and maybe it would just go away. I couldn't blame Jack for acting this way. It was in his nature to conquer women. So I wouldn't blame him.

I wouldn't blame anyone.

He shifted his head toward me. "Not repulsed?"

There was a strange reddish tint streaking his face. Blood stains soaked the comforter. "Were you crying?" I asked incredulously.

"No!" He screeched and buried his face back in the bed.

"Jack. I'm really sorry, ok? Can we go back to normal now?"

He turned over. "Not really. That's what we said last time and look where we are. Ever since you mentioned that Peter Fuck Butt, things have been going wrong. I think it's because I'm still kind of…uh…"

"Jealous?"

"Whatever. If I can get rid of that, I think we'll be ok,' he said.

"Oh yeah? What do you suppose?" I asked.

"You'll think of something."

I sighed and patted his head. "You are a much better friend than Peter. I cherish you."

"That's not what I meant," he said bitingly and sat up on an elbow.

"I'm sorry that I don't have your super vampire psychic powers."

He glared at me and hooked an arm around my waist, pulling me closer. "You don't need a psychic to know that you didn't like Peter like a _friend_ ," he hissed. "That's unacceptable. You can't be my _Sang Royale_ if your loyalties are lying with that idiot.

"Really? You're going to do this now?" I groaned, and tried to pull away. "Let go."

He barely moved as I struggled to free myself. "I'm going to need you to pledge yourself to me and the court. Right now. It's the only way I can be sure you're not a spy."

"Are you going to start crying again if I don't?"

"Ok, now you need sing the national anthem, too!"

"Would you let me go already? I need to sleep."

"And perform the country's dance. I've never seen you dance before."

"I'm serious."

"The faster your prove that you like me better than that asshole, the faster I'll-"

I smacked my lips against his and his grip slacked in shock. It was a rough and clumsy movement, but he seemed stunned by it.

I straightened and walked to the end of the room.

"Convinced now?" I asked and yanked the door open. Emilie was crouching behind it and we bumped into each other. She was peering through the keyhole.

"Um…it wasn't what it looked like!" We both said in unison.

She narrowed her eyes. "I mean, I didn't see anything."

"Of course you didn't," I said pointedly. "Because nothing happened."

Nothing at all.


	10. Attack of the mall rats!

Why was it so cold? The room was pitch black, and the covers were pooled at the end of the bed.

I groaned, and with my eyes still squeezed shut, I tried to maneuver my foot into the sheets. My toe collided with something cold, hard and fleshy.

"Jack, what are you doing in my bed?"

He had his arms folded under his head and was reclining next to me. "You called me."

A pillow covered my head, and yet his voice still rang loud and annoying. "No, I didn't."

"You did too. I was about to fall asleep and then all of a sudden I hear 'Jaaaaccckkk mooooorrrrrreeee.'"

I pulled the pillow hard over my head as if to suffocate myself, an option that did not seem too far away. "I didn't say anything, Jack. I just woke up."

"You were sleep talking. Must've been some dream."

Why yes. Yes it was.

"Stop lying and get out of my room. It's 2:30. Can't you just let me have one night of normal sleep? Go do something meaningful with your life," I mumbled and turned over. It was still freezing and the comforter had disappeared from the bed.

"2:30? It's 5:30 in the night. You dyslexic or something? Get up already," he said and shook my shoulders. "If you don't get up, Emilie's going to come in here and she's not going to be as nice as me."

I smacked his arms away and rolled farther along the bed and tried to delve back into my sexy dream. My limbs were so heavy from sleep and if I opened my eyes I felt like they would fall out my face. The bed was so soft, but so cold. Why couldn't he just leave me in peace?

I huddled into a smaller ball and shivered. "Jack, go away. I'm begging you. Its freezing and you're not helping."

He put an arm around me and pulled so that we were pressed up against each other. "Better?" he breathed

My eyes twitched as his coldness permeated my skin. "Get off me! You're freezing! Are you trying to torture me or something? Just pull the cover on the bed and go away," I shrieked and struggled away from him.

"Don't yell at me!" He growled and pushed me off the bed.

I hit the floor with a thump and rolled around before and crawling under the bed. At least it would be warm and cozy under there.

A few moments passed and I let my body relax and eyes droop. Then he pulled me out by my ankle.

"Wake up damn you!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" I screamed. He dropped me on the bed with a jolt and winced.

"What do you want" I whispered again, and suppressed dry sobs.

"I want you," he leaned close to my face until I could feel his cold breath against my lips. "To get up!"

"Go call that model and get drinks or something. Ask someone on a date. Jump off a cliff. I don't care! Let me sleep!"

"Get out of bed!"

"Damn it, Jack! Leave me alone! Or I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you and then you'll be DEAD! NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!" I screamed and started kicking him off the bed. He took the blows with a sigh. "Fine, you wanna play hardball? I'll play hardball. Emilie!"

In three seconds I was yanked out of bed by the ankle and thrown into my ultra super special massage shower. Using my own baby to betray me. I curled into a ball on the slick, icy floor of the tub.

The bright fluorescent lights burned through the eyes that I still refused to open.

"Get up, get up, get up!" Emilie crooned as she poked and prodded at my huddled form.

"Please!" I sobbed. "Just leave me alone. All I want is sleep!"

"I'm sorry, but no. Can you believe Jennifer's party is in one week? We haven't gone shopping once! How am I supposed to present you to decent company while you're wearing garbage rags?" She said and began undressing me. "Think of it as your debutante ball. It's the first time all the lords and ladies are going to see you as a part of my family. You have to look snazzy."

She yanked my pants down while I yanked up, simultaneous actions that resulted in a loud rip.

Finally, I was naked and huddled on the floor while she stood over me with a hand on the tap. The cold water tap.

"We have a long day today." She smiled. 'Whoosh' went the water as I cursed everything that ever existed in the universe.

Silent tears swirled down the drain and I felt the life being sucked out of me. What just happened? Wasn't I in bed a few minutes ago sleeping sleepy sleep and dreaming sexy dreams? Why was I on the floor with ice water being poured on me?

"Stop crying, you're depressing me. The faster you finish the faster you can fall asleep in the car," she said and knocked on the glass. "Oh, I have a good idea. Don't move."

She found a bottle of bubble bath and poured it into the frothy water and bubbles surrounded my nakedness. She let me wallow there for a few minutes before deeming me clean enough to get dried off.

"See, you're clean now. No big deal," Emilie said as I pulled a shirt on. "Jack! You can come in now. She's dressed."

Jack needing permission to harass me in the shower? Waiting until I was fully clothed? I must've still been dreaming.

He leaned against the doorframe with concern written on his face, "She doesn't look too good, Emilie."

I stumbled down and hit my head on the door edge. "Blargle sleep now for me to…"my words died down into a hobos murmur and I rested my heavy head on the toilet seat.

"We're here!"

I jumped and unstuck my cheek from the leather of the limo seat. "Huh? Where am I?" I grumbled feeling an odd sense of déjà vu.

"Demigods Mall. We're going party shopping. I bought you a croissant and some orange juice for breakfast. Meet me in _Nasty Clown_ when you guys are finished eating. And don't take long," Emilie said and jumped out of the Limo. The moon was beaming down on Gold Tat Mall, a huge glass and gold structure that held the most expensive and fancy clothes in the area. I had only seen it on television shows about rich teenagers and fat mobsters.

"We won't!" Jack called and slammed the door. He threw the food at me. "You like bread and juice, right?"

I picked at the croissant and wrinkled my nose. "Eggs. I want eggs and pancakes."

He sighed. "Ok, fine. Let's get baby her pancakes." He opened the door and began walking toward the mall.

"Wait, you don't want to eat first?" I called and followed him. We were about to enter the huge stained glass doors with gold spires curling around the individual panes. Pretty fancy for a mall. Through the glass I could see I grand chandelier hanging down from the ceiling, showering all the little stores with candlelight.

"It can wait. Let's feed you first."

Being selfless? Listening to other people's needs? Something was wrong.

We entered Demigod Mall and my breath was stolen from me. It had to be the fanciest, gold-est, tallest, shiniest place that I had ever been in. The ceiling was high and carved with images of angels and demons. The stores were all lined up with their glorious window displays filled with clothes and jewelry and pretzels. Oh, the smells of perfume and sugared goods permeated the air and my mouth watered from the juicy food opportunities.

"So, you said you wanted pancakes? There's this restaurant that lets you put anything you want in the…what are you staring at?"

I pranced down the wide corridor, pressing my face to the storefronts and giggling. Clothes and shoes and clothes and shoes and ooh! jewelry! And for once in my life, I had the money to pay for them all. So much beauty in one place! I spotted the store Emilie talked about

 _Nasty Clown_ was a store that, surprisingly, sold evening dresses. Emilie was enveloped in a big gray dress and was twirling around in tall tri-mirror set while clerks sized her up and presented her with accessories and snacks.

"This is lovely," I said and picked up a long layer.

"That was quick. Enjoy breakfast?" she asked and pouted to the mirror. "What do you think of this dress? I think I'm more of a spring yellow."

I opened my mouth to respond, but was yanked away from her and escorted to a nearby dress rack with darker colors.

"What are you doing? Let go of that!" A woman's thick southern accent poured in my ear.

She was round and tall and bosomy with bright lipstick and long painful fingernails. Her hair was done up high with ribbons and tassels, as was her dress. She looked like the owner of a brothel. "How old are you? Shouldn't you know by now that gray isn't your color? You shouldn't even be touching something like that. Now, I think you should be concentrating more on red or lavender. Maybe even a summer peach? Hm? What do you think?"

I glanced at Emilie who was ignoring me and then back at the lady. "Do I know you?"

"Of course! You are the Hunters' _Sang Royale_ and I'm telling you that you can't wear gray."

"…Right."

"Now put this on, and then this and then that, ok? Go!" She pushed the three colors at me and then led me to a large regal room.

The dresses really weren't my style, but eh. What the hell?

I undressed and pulled the red strapless up and tried to maneuver the zipper. Unsuccessful.

"Uh, help? I need help. Lady? You still out-OH!" I yelped as the zipper was pulled up by a cold hand.

"You know you shouldn't run off in such a big place. You could've gotten kidnapped or something," Jack muttered as he arranged my hair around my face. He held me at arm's length and then shook his head. "Nah, not your style. Let me see the peach one."

"Get out."

He made a face and fell back on a velvet chaise that honestly had no business in a dressing room. In fact the whole place looked like something you might find in a castle. The walls had fancy wallpaper and there was even one of those tall folding dressing wall thingies. Awesome.

"I would like to, I really would but I can't," he said and kicked off his shoes. "After you left, a bunch of girls started chasing me; normal stuff. They seem to be rowdier than usual though."

I rolled my eyes.

"He's telling the truth, Cassie!" I heard Emilie yell through the wall like a voice from heaven…or hell. "Look outside."

I peeked through the door and saw a tall red head talking at the front desk. "You didn't happen to see Duke Jack Hunter come in here did you?" The clerk shook his head and she mouthed 'no' to a bunch of girls lurking outside the store.

Jack shrugged and flashed a carefree smile, "What can I say? I'm irresistible."

I sighed and decided to end this possible incident before it started. "Leave me out of this," I said and walked to the cash register still wearing the red dress. "Charge this to the Hunter's account, please. Hey, you know where I can get some pancakes?"

I had gotten my pancakes fairly quickly and was eating them on the balcony overlooking the parking lot. The red dress was bit unmanageable, but I had gotten the hang of not dripping syrup on it.

"Um, ma'am? Sorry to disturb you but there are two people requesting audience with you." A waitress said.

"Is it the young duke and duchess?"

She nodded.

"Tell them that…I'll meet them in the car and also that I'm not here," I said and dove into the waffles.

"We heard your voice, idiot," Emilie said at the door of the balcony. "Ew, what are you wearing?"

I glowered at the waitress and rubbed a hand across my face. "Is it time to go home yet?"

"Heavens no!" Emilie barked with a laugh and pulled me up. "The girls, there are so many, just keep following us around. They won't leave! You need to do something, and fast. Otherwise they might follow us home and then there's gonna be a big mess!"

"What am I supposed to do? You expect me to teleport you guys out of here or something? " I said and tried to find the waitress. I needed some eggs now.

"Don't be a coward! I did all I could, now it's your turn. You're good at calming people down. They've got Jack cornered in the front," she said and pulled me away.

The glass French style doors of _Peter Pancake_ were closed to the dozens of girls beating on them. They all jumped up and down and made desperate pleas for Jack to have their children.

Oh dear.

"Get out of here! If they break through they'll eat you alive!" Jack said furiously and waved me off.

There was only one way to get a crowd of teenage girls off your back.

"Uh, shoo! Go away girls!" I said.

They quieted and narrowed their eyes at me. Ok, maybe not that way. But I knew another way!

"Who's that?"

"Who the hell is that and why is she in there with Jack?"

"Why is she dressed like a piñata?"

"She looks like a piñata."

"That's a nice dress."

"I guess. She doesn't have the top for it though. She should try a wrap."

"Definitely."

"Red makes her look kind of scary. Like a bloody swamp ghost."

"Ok, hush girls…sisters!" I shouted slightly embarrassed, but if my plan worked, I was going to be more than slightly embarrassed by the end of it. "I am one of you! I am of your common plight! I too love Jack and have come to-to um…"

I glanced at Emilie who was goading me on.

"Bask in his Jackiness!" I finished. "I too have been ignored by the hot guys of society and come here in hopes that my feelings will be returned by he, the hottest of the hot. I know how you feel. You feel rejected by cupid. You have lost all hope of ever finding love. But sisters, listen to me and listen well. I am going to go out on a limb and draw Cupid's bow and arrow myself. I might be successful and I might not, but either way the pain is mine. My only wish is that you live through me so that you may be spared the hurt of imminent rejection and only experience the possible joy through my eyes, as I go down on one knee and set my heart at his feet."

As I spoke their skeptical face turned to big puppy dog eyes as they watched me act like a big sappy romantic idiot. The people in the restaurant had grown silent and were watching and eating like some sort of in flight show.

I grimaced and got down on one knee and took his hand. "Jack um…uh,"

"Foxworthy," Emilie said.

"Corinthian," A girl in the crowd suggested.

I nodded my thanks to them and continued. "Jack Timothy Corinthian Hunter, will you go to Jennifer's Staying Alive for over a Year anniversary ball thingy with me? Please?"

The girls all smiled encouragingly at me as they forgot their previous rage and obsession. Nothing distracts better than a good love story.

Jack just stared at me slack jawed, evidently trying to ruin the plan.

"Say yes, boy!" A man in the back called.

"Say yes, Jack!"

"Say something!"

"Open your heart!" The girls hollered. They were fully ensconced in the scene now. They were no longer a pack of crazed girls; they were my audience living vicariously through me.

"Um, y-yes?" He stuttered and swallowed nervously as a blush spread across his cheeks.

The crowd erupted in applause and I swore someone was throwing flowers.

I stood and pulled Jack down in a low bow. The girls cheered some more and then dispersed leaving _Peter Pancake_ a safe place to eat pancakes again.

"Thank you, thank you!" I said and smiled graciously as I pulled Jack out the door.

He followed in a daze and Emilie ran after us, bags in hand.

Once we were out of sight, he reared back and we stopped.

"That was brilliant!" Emilie cried. "Right Jack? You can't write stuff like that! That was gold."

"What can I say? When you're good, you're good. We're probably the best actors in the world. Right Jack, or should I say Timmy?" I responded.

He nodded absently and stared into the distance.

Emilie and I exchanged looks.

"You ok, Jack? You look a little spacey. The girls didn't touch you inappropriately did they?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Hungry?" I suggested.

He paused and then shook his head, "Not really."

There was a pause, and I ruffled the edges of my huge crinoline. Why was I still wearing this?

"Did any of you guys take my clothes from the dressing room?" I asked.

"What's the matter, Jack? You're killing the mood," Emilie said, totally ignoring me.

He looked down and then shook his head. "No. I-I just…Did you really ask me out on a date or was that just for show?"

He examined his fingernails like he didn't care but he kept throwing sidelong glances at me.

"I asked you out on a date?"

"Yes! Just now in the pancake house. You asked me to go to Jennifer's party with you," he said and threw his hand down in indignation.

I was a bit shocked. "Weren't we always going to go to the ball together in the same car and then leave together in the same car? Wasn't that a date already?"

"That doesn't count!" He said.

"Uh, I'm going to call for the Limo," Emilie announced and ran off.

"What do you want? Movies and dinner or something?" I meant that as a joke but he looked pretty serious.

"Well, yes! It's the first time anyone's ever asked me on a date and I wanted it to be special," He snapped and folded his arms.

"What do you mean first time? You've been on hundreds of dates. I know because I've been on them!" I responded.

"I've taken girls on dates. I've never been treated to one. I've always been the one to make all the arrangements. It's the first time anyone's ever asked me on a date and now I found out I'm just going to be driven to some stupid party!

"Fine, we don't have to go to the 'stupid party'. You can wait for 'the one' and have the perfect 'first time'. We can just drive in the car like I said before," I made bunny ears for each quotation.

"Ok, ok! I'll do it if you want to…I just don't think I'm ready for that."

I sighed and threw an arm around him giving up on normalcy. "No, we can wait. This is not the type of thing you rush into. I want you to be happy during your first time."

He shook his head and smiled sweetly. "It's ok. I want to do it now. I know that it will be special no matter what."

I smiled back. "I'm glad that I have the honor of being your first time. I promise that it will be perfect."

We hugged. "Will it hurt?" He whispered.

Hurt? What were we talking about again? I pulled out of the hug and gave him a look- and that's when I noticed Emilie staring at us with the limo waiting behind.

The look on her face summed it all up, so her following sentence was quite unnecessary. "Were you guys talking about fucking?"


	11. When shit gets real

"This is so beautiful!" cooed Terry as she spun around in my red strapless ball gown. It looked better on her than it did on me. She had a way of filling it out in all the right places, and making each little sparkle catch in the light.

I sat back and frowned. "What are you going to wear to the anniversary ball?"

She stopped spinning and made a face, "That purple dress with the ribbons that I wore to Cathy's birthday last year."

"Chocolate stains never wash off," I said,

"I know."

I bit my lip thoughtfully for a minute, "Hey, you want this dress?"

"Yes," she said automatically without taking her eyes off her reflection.

"Uh, ok. It's yours."

Her eyes widened and she threw her arms around my neck. "Thank you so much! See I knew you were lying when you said you were going to wear this dress. It makes you look like a bloody swamp ghost. Now where's your real dress."

"I don't have one," I said.

"What do you mean you don't have one? Are you going shopping later? Can I come?" she asked in a rush.

"Actually, I kind of don't want to go," I said slowly and picked at my sweats. There was a loud crack outside like boiling thunder, but we ignored it.

"Why not? If you can't go, then I can't go!"

"It's that Jennifer girl. She frightens me. And plus, it's probably going to be boring and I'm going to embarrass myself and everyone will laugh at me and I'll shame my family."

Terry nodded and began putting on her own clothes. "Well, if that's how you feel. I think you should go. You're already living like royalty. You have to play the part also. Plus, aren't all the little aristocrats waiting to meet the Hunter's new _Sang Royale_? It's the whole point of the party. You're going to be letting down a lot of people."

"Gee, thanks for the support," I said sarcastically.

She shrugged, "It's what I do. Well, I'll be seeing you. I'd better get home before the wolves come out. See ya."

I nodded my goodbye and lay back on my bed. Yeah, it probably would be best if I just stayed home.

"What do you mean you don't want to go?" Jack hissed suddenly. I barely batted an eye and merely pushed his face away from my bedside.

"How long were you listening?" I asked.

"Long enough to hear about that sexy dream you had the other night, but we can reenact that later. Answer my question."

I sighed and turned on my stomach so I could hide my shame in pillow. "Well if you were listening you should already know, right?"

"But so what if you hate Jennifer? I hate Jennifer too and I'm going! It's not that big of a deal!" He said and rubbed my shoulder.

"If you hate her then why are you going?" I mumbled through the pillow.

He paused and removed his hand from my shoulder. "Because I have a date."

"Are you really going to get into that again?" I said, exasperated. "Even if I wanted to go, I don't have a dress anymore. So there."

I don't know why, but I was in a really foul mood. Maybe it was because I told Terry about 'that time I crashed the car' and all she did was laugh and laugh for about an hour. The only way I distracted her was by telling her about the dress.

"If you really don't want to go, I'm not going to force you. I wasn't planning to go before anyways," He said and climbed over me to the other side of the bed. He lay down. "That's why Emilie was so adamant about finding a dress for _you._ So she wouldn't have to go alone. She's going to be pretty angry."

What's all this now? Jack actually being nice and understanding and not forcing me to do something?

"Jack? Are you feeling ok?" I asked and snuck a peek at him from the corner of my eye.

He was staring blankly at the ceiling, but when I looked his eyes immediately shifted to mine. "Ok? I'm peachy. Juuuust peachy. If you want to stay in your room instead of go to a party…with me, that's ok."

We stared at each other for a moment before he looked away first sighed dramatically.

"Why do you always feel the need to guilt trip me?" I said.

He shrugged and smirked, "It's what I do."

I rolled my eyes and sat up, but he pulled me back down next to him. He pressed his lips to my neck and I yelped. "You just ate, Jack. Give me a few hours to refill."

"Did I say I was hungry?" He said against my skin, and skimmed fingers through my hair. And there's the old Jack.

I froze, unsure of what to do. We weren't even in a car this time. "Jack, please stop doing what you're doing."

He smiled and I felt his one incisor pressing into my neck.

"Why?" he whispered. "Losing control? Don't worry I can handle it."

"Ah, ok. Enough. No, I don't think you can handle it. Let me go," I said and pulled away. He furrowed his brow and sat up indignantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What do you mean what's that supposed to mean? You're creeping me out is all," I said and climbed out of bed.

He frowned and gave me a look that said it was going to be a long night. Drama queen ahoy!

"Creeping you out? I'm creeping you out?!" he exclaimed.

I raised an eyebrow and tried to measure the distance between me and the door. Eh…too far. "No. No you're not."

He rolled his eyes, "Why are you such a mood killer?"

Now I've been called a lot of things (Cassie, birthday girl, girl scout number 10-80, cock blocker) but I have never been accused of being a mood killer! I was the most fun person in the world!

"I am not a mood killer! There's not even a mood! There's never been a mood!" I shouted.

"Of course there's a mood! You don't feel it?" He made back and forth gestures between us with his hands.

"You mean the mood of two good friends discussing the party of a girl they mutually dislike? Yes, I feel that," I said.

He was not amused. "No! The mood of two people who are supposed to be going on a date except that one of them is a habitual mood killer!"

"Is that what you're so upset about? Not going on a date with me?" I asked incredulously.

"No! I'm 'upset' b-because…because you said I creep you out! Friends don't creep friends out. And no one wants to go out with a creepy person," he said and his voice was all pitchy and creaky.

He pouted and I genuinely began feeling bad for him. He was being a huge downer. Ironically he was the mood killer in this situation so suck on that.

He narrowed his eyes at me like he could tell what I was thinking. I smiled halfheartedly and he buried his face in my pillows.

"I'm sorry! Don't cry!" I yelled. "You're going to get my pillows all bloody!"

I rushed over to him and tried to save my pillow. It ripped in a flurry of feathers and I realized he wasn't crying. He was tearing through my bedding. Under the pillow, the mattress corner was destroyed.

"Now why would you do this to my poor bed, Jack? Why?" I asked.

"It was either your bed or you."

Uhuh.

"Jack, I was thinking just now as you threatened my face, would you like to go out on a date with me? Now? Instead of moping around my room, destroying my stuff and slowly going insane? Since going out seems to be the only thing that will make you happy, I will gladly sacrifice my day to save my duvet."

He gave me a bored look. "Really? And why should I go out on a date with you?"

I don't know.

"Ok don't."

"Fine! You don't have to beg."

"Ok here is our schedule," I read to Jack when we were in the car. "First, we drive to the park. We take a long walk. Then we go to a hill and converse for approximately 25 minutes. Have a picnic. Afterwards, we watch the sunrise and then drive back home. Good?"

He took the paper and then shook his head. "Move. I'm driving."

Before I could say anything we were switched and he had his foot pressed on the gas pedal.

We zoomed down the thin canyon road, nearly careening off the edge several times.

"The park is that way, Jack. You're ruining my date!" I said and pressed my face to the window.

He didn't say anything, but just kept taking obscure turns through darkened paths.

Finally, we stopped and I saw shimmering black water everywhere. Surrounding the water was soft white sand. The moon cast a ghostly glow from its perch in the clear night sky. Stars flashed across the horizon like diamonds and the air smelled like crushed tea leaves.

"This isn't the park, Jack," I said in an awestruck monotone.

He opened my car door and held out a hand. I pushed past him and ran onto the shore.

"It's beautiful!" I shouted against the strong sea wind. He smiled and ran a hand through his hair in a way that made me suspicious.

"You do know that this is only happening once?" I asked slowly. Something flashed across his face before I could catch it and he looked away.

"I know that," he said miserably like I offended his intelligence.

"Good…good. Anyways, here's our new schedule: a walk along the beach and then we climb a tree and THEN watch the sunrise," I said. He pressed a finger to my lips and shook his head. "No more schedules. Just me and you hanging out, ok?"

I cocked my head in thought. That didn't seem too bad. I was even kind of looking forward to it.

I nodded and grabbed his hand and tugged him into a run. He flipped me onto his back and we tore down the shore kicking up sand and crushing seashells.

After a few minutes he stopped short and I shot over his head and face first onto the sand.

"Ouch."

From the ground, I noticed a large shadow looming over us. A small beach cottage was standing alone in the middle of the silver sand. He pushed open the door and beckoned me inside. It was beautiful.

So quaint and comfortable. All of the glitz and glam from St. Sesame was lost in the small wooden furniture and cozy décor. A huge window overlooked the beach, and in behind of it assorted blankets and pillows were laid out into a makeshift bed.

"Ok, you either called ahead, or this is a left over from a previous date," I said.

Jack shoved me forward and rolled his eyes. "Just sit down."

He sat by me and gazed out at the water. "This isn't too bad for a first date. Usually when I ask girls out we go to a restaurant and then the movies and then make out. But this is much better. You really know how to show a good time."

"So, I'm _not_ a mood killer?" I said and brushed the sand from my tearing eyeballs.

He snickered, "More like a mood neutralizer. You don't kill it, but you don't make it better."

I sat up and stuck out my tongue. "The park would have been better. I brought a picnic blanket and everything."

He suppressed a grin and then laid his head in my lap. "Do you still want to wait for sunrise?"

I nodded.

"Then we're going to be here a long time. It's only three am. We're going to be here for about four hours."

"What?" I let out an exasperated groan and let my head hit a pillow. "But that's forever!"

He leaned over me and flashed a sly grin. "Then I guess we're going to be here for a while."

"It won't be that bad since I'm with you though," I said without thinking. He was silent, and lay next to me.

"You really feel that way?" he asked after a moment.

"Mhm."

The waves crashed against the sand in a somnolent roar. Moon rays and starlight poured onto the sheets and our legs and I didn't want to be alone at that moment. Or rather, I wanted to be closer to Jack. I scuttled over and pulled his arm around my shoulders. I laid my head against his cold chest.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up into his questioning eyes and tried to roll away. "Oh, sorry. I was just- sorry."

No wonder he brought dates to the beach house. There was some kind of roofie magic embedded in the walls. It was awkward enough that we were on a date, but now my self control was being called into question?

"No, its fine," he said and pulled me closer. "And…I wouldn't mind lying here with you forever, either."

I looked up at him, and he looked down.

He smiled slightly.

I kissed him.

And he kissed me back.


	12. The horror THE HORROR

Something was wrong. Something was severely wrong. I could feel sunlight, but I wasn't feeling it at the same time. I mean, it wasn't burning me the way proper sunlight would. Instead it felt the same way it used to before I turned into a nocturnal creature.

I tentatively opened my eyes, afraid of permanently destroying my retinas.

The sun was just peeking over glistening blue ocean. The sand was even whiter under the shining sun. It was a sight thought I'd never see again. It was a sight I shouldn't have been seeing. Why was I still at the beach house? And why was I nakedohmygod.

At this point, the trembling started again and I closed my eyes. This wasn't happening. It wasn't. Because, you see, Jack was not lying next to me also naked. We were not in a beach house. It wasn't morning aka vampire night. I did not wake up next to Jack naked on a few sheets thrown onto the floor.

"You're awake…and you're shaking."

He stroked my hair sweetly, and then placed a small kiss on my forehead and then one on my unresponsive lips.

"This isn't happening," I whispered when he pulled away.

He sat up. Suddenly fear and confusion was painting his previously contented brow.

"You didn't just say that."

His chest was sculpted like a Greek gods, and I remembered exactly how it felt last night. I remembered everything that happened last night and how it was fine until I woke up and realized that it wasn't fine _._

It was NOT fine.

 _Why not? He_ _ **is**_ _your best friend isn't he? You share everything. Why not your bodies? You wanted it. You said you wouldn't mind spending eternity with him. You were the one that kissed him after all._

No! That was because the beach and the moonlight and the- the bed! It was just too perfect! It wasn't because I wanted it!

 _Too perfect? Like Jack? All you've done for the past two weeks is think about that kiss and fantasize about this very moment. Now, you don't want it? Don't kid yourself. You know the truth._

Yes. Everything's ruined! I've just slept with my best friend. I've just slept with a guy whose slept with every girl he's ever met. I've just slept with someone who doesn't love me.

 _Yeah… but you love him._

"Enough!" I shouted and stood up. "I-I can't- I can't-"

My breaths were coming too fast; I couldn't get the words out. Even if I didn't know what I was saying in the first place

"Cassie! Calm down," he murmured. "Please, calm down. It's ok. It's ok." He repeated the words over like a litany and slowly crept over to me. He watched me warily, and slowly wrapped his arms around me. I let myself be pulled into him, and his touch soothed me. "Calm down. Calm down."

My eyes drooped and I took a deep breath. It was going to be ok. Jack was with me. He said he'd spend eternity with me. Behind him, the sun was a small fiery arc hiding behind the sea. It was getting smaller.

Smaller?

It was a sunset. We'd been out for a whole day.

"Oh no," I breathed. I pulled away from him and began the long terrible search for my clothes. "I can't do this."

"Calm down, Cassie."

"Jack, we have to leave. I can't do this."

"We don't have to go anywhere. We can stay here as long as we want."

"No. We have to leave right now. I can't do this."

"As long as we want, Cassie!"

"Right now, Jack!"

"…forever. Remember, Cassie?"

I looked up at him, and he looked down.

He smiled slightly.

I shook my head. "Right now, Jack."

Note 8: You are your own worst enemy.


	13. And now: A Word From Our Sponsors

Note 9: Falling in love with your best friend is acceptable.

I think those have to be the best type of stories. A boy meets the girl next door and they fall in love after the boy realizes that the hot popular girl is not his type. Or even a girl watches her nerdy guy friend turn into a hot hunk of man over the course of one summer. Those are just fine.

Note 10: Falling in love with your best friend who also happens to love every single girl he's ever seen is NOT ok.

See, I can't even think of a plot that encompasses those two things: love and whore-ism. Two best friends fall in love. For a day. But then the boy best friend sees a hotter and much prettier girl and then leaves with her, but then breaks up with the hotter girl and leaves with an even HOTTER girl. The girl best friend becomes horribly, _horribly_ depressed. She gains a lot of weight. Then she starts sleeping around with a bunch of gross older men. Then she gets pregnant. And she can't even move out because she works for the best friend. She turns fat and ugly and he doesn't even want to drink from her but he has to and thus begins to resent her. Her friends and family begin to hate her also because she's bitter and unlovable and fat. Her belly becomes so large that is actually swallows up the baby and she becomes eternally pregnant. The boy then finds a woman who is not gross or fat or forever pregnant. He marries that perfect woman and they have kids. The girl is then moved up to the attic because she is now the shame of the Hunter family. The boy sends servants to bleed the girl because he doesn't even want to look at her. The girl is all alone. She has to watch the only man she's ever loved have his happily ever after for the REST OF ETERNITY. You know why?

Because they're both immortal.


	14. Quick! We need a diversion!

The sun had barely risen over the horizon, but bright fiery lights cast an orange glow around my dark room.

There was a moment of silence before a loud explosion ripped through the peaceful night.

Yes. The same explosion that woke me up over a year ago.

My eyes snapped open at the familiar noise and a ghost pain shot through my arm, but this time I decided to do the smart thing.

'Go back to sleep Cassie. This doesn't concern you.'

BOOM!

"AH!" Someone outside screamed. "HELP! IF ONLY SOMEONE CONCERNED THEMSELVES WITH ME!"

I frowned and burrowed deeper under the thick covers.

There were two more explosions and then a loud crash as a rock crashed through my balcony door and onto my bed. It landed near my face and I decided a peek wouldn't be too bad.

A tiny blimp with a rope attached to it floated through the hole. At the end of the rope was a slowly rising flame. My eyes went wide as I realized what was about to happen.

I scrambled out of bed and onto the balcony. A few seconds went by before there was another bang and a billow of smoke erupted from my room.

Gasping, I pulled my flimsy flannel pjs tightly around me. The air was cold and I was shaking furiously from shock and chill.

From behind and below I heard a 'psst'.

I whipped around and peeked through the balcony railings to see none other than Jack staring up at me. He was dressed in his night boxers.

He gestured to me fervently, and then looked around wildly before ducking behind a tree.

"What? What the hell's going on?" I shouted.

"SSH! Come down! Quickly!" he whispered.

I looked around for a ladder than paused as my thoughts caught up.

"Wait-why? Why is my room destroyed? Damn it Jack, I was sleeping!"

He smacked his forehead before shaking his head fervently and then pointing up. I frowned and then slowly gazed upward.

HOLY SHIT!

There were a bunch of little blimps flying toward me. In the trees, tiny little mechanical figures were sitting and watching me with cocked heads. Their eyes glowed a bright green and glinted off their copper features.

"Ah! W-what are those?!" I screamed and backtracked on my hands and butt.

"SSSHHH!" He hissed and squeezed his head between his hands. "Just jump down, quickly! I'll catch you!"

I looked down and him and then at the approaching balloons and then at the little tree robots then back at him. "But your hands are on the side of your head."

"JUST JUMP DOWN!" He screamed and then immediately covered his mouth. The clockwork creatures twitched their heads in his direction and then jumped down onto him.

I watched in horror as he ran around in a panic trying to rip the things from his body. I don't know what they were doing to him, but it looked painful. In the distance there was another explosion and more agonized screaming

Now, my choices had run out. The blimps were almost upon me and the fuses were shrinking quickly. My only means of escape was currently being attacked by the infinite skeletons of tickle me Elmo.

"Psst!" My eye twitched and I turn to see Emilie hanging on a low branch with her arm held out also dressed in pajamas. "Come with me if you want to live."

I stared at her and considered any and all of my other options.

"Uh, no I think I'll take my chances in my bed."

Unfortunately my opinion does not matter to Emilie. She grabbed me by the arm and flung me over her shoulder."We have to save Jack and then get to the cellar!"

"Cellar? What cellar? Emilie what are those things? Why am I being terrorized? Why-"

She slammed a hand over my mouth and bounded through the trees. "Would you shut up? I tried to tell you about it you ignored me. Remember that? Bet you wish you hadn't ignored me, huh."

"Nuh ah di'int," I murmured through her hand.

"Uh, yeah you did," she said mockingly. We narrowed our eyes at each other.

"Think about it," she said.

Flashback!

"Hey guys. Where have _you_ been? I just got-" Emilie began once we got in the door.

I brushed past her and tried to make it to my room before-

"Cassie, stop running away from me!" Jack yelled. He blocked my path and held my face gently. "Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

I was painfully aware of Emilie's presence and I avoided his eyes. "Uh, I think it was the sand. Sand c-can be pretty terrible, you know? Right Emilie? Ha, ha."

Emilie wrinkled her nose and exchanged looks with Jack. "Anyways, listen guys-"

"No thanks," I said. "I'm feeling really tired and-and sandy. I think I'm going to stay in my room."

And that's what I did for two weeks.

Servants brought food to my room and carried bottles of blood out. Several times, Jack and Emilie banged on my doors. Each time I told them I was in the bathroom.

That led to the servants bringing me spinach and Mylanta.

I spent a lot of those three days in bed trying to figure out where it all went wrong.

And then explosions.

Ok, maybe I did ignore her.

We landed downwind from Jack who was still screaming and running. The robots seemed to come in masses.

"What's going on? What are those things?" I shrieked.

"SHUT UP DAMN IT! YOU'RE LIKE A FREAKING PARROT! Welcome to your first game of manhunt. In the forest there are two people trying to capture you. Do not get captured by them? Ok?"

"B-but why now? It's the middle of the night! I'm freezing."

"I tried to tell you about it. If you had listened maybe you would have been better prepared. I mean what's going on with you and Jack? Are you training to be hermits or something? You've both been locked in your room for like a month."

Jack screamed and fell to his knees in agony.

"Ok, here's the plan…go help Jack." Emilie pushed me into him. I fell on top and the thingies instantly swarmed over my and left Jack. They weren't heavy, just painful as their mechanical digits clamped my skin and tried to drag me off to the depths of oblivion. My throat burned from screaming bloody murder and I tried to sweep them off of me. Above me, explosions and trees cracking and the earth shook.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME! THEY'RE EATING MY EYES!"

An arm appeared through the swarm and pulled me up by the neck like a cat and slung me over his shoulder. "Jack, I told you not to hold me there! I'm not a freaking cat; that hurts!"

"No time! We have to get out of here!" He said and began running away.

"But my room! What about my room!" I screamed.

The last sight I saw was a hoard of tickle-me-Elmos being crushed by the burning remnants of my room.

The forest was dark and full of branches that existed solely to hit me in the face. The moon was high and filtered through the trees in an eerie way. Cool wind blurred my vision and Jack's cold skin did nothing to help the fever threatening to rise up.

Finally he slowed and stopped in a clearing. A small broken shed stood in the middle surrounded by yellow grass and purple flowers. Emilie caught up to us and pulled me into the shed and Jack followed.

It was a dusty place, stocked with a few broken chairs and chipped bottles, a table, a sink and some shelves.

"Ok, what the hell is happening? Where are we? What were those things? Why is my room-MY ROOM, OH GOD MY ROOM!" I fell to my knees and started banging the floor with my fists.

"Didn't I explain this to you already?" Emilie asked.

Jack leaned against the table and ran a hand through his hair. "Remember when we first met? And there was an explosion and Claire, you remember Claire, right?"

I nodded.

"And Claire said it's because of a game of manhunt that got out of hand? Well, welcome to your first game of Manhunt. Claire called to warn us, because usually the game starts by one team bombing the shit out of the other just out of the blue, right? She just didn't tell us when, hence the pajamas. My room is filled with mustard gas, and Emilie's room is on fire. I tried to tell them that you weren't into this type of stuff, but they didn't listen. I really didn't expect them to bomb you. You don't even know him."

"They really wanted you to play," Emilie interjected.

The air was moldy and clogged my nose and throat. It didn't help that I was about to cry. Am I the only one who thought Claire was supposed to be a good guy?

"B-but I don't want to play. Make it stop. Please," I said.

"Make it stop? _Make it stop?"_ Emilie said and began laughing. She looked at Jack who was suppressing a smile.

"What's so funny?" I whined.

"You think we started this game? You think we enjoy being terrorized while we sleep? We've never initiated it. We never want to play. It's not a fun game. Have you ever seen us planting bombs or making robots?"

"Why were there robots? Why were there robots sitting in trees and watching me sleep?"

"Just another one of Liam's toys. Those and the blimps and bombs and booby traps. It's like a freaking Indiana Jones movie. Why they were watching you and not attacking is beyond me. That's never happened before," Emilie said.

None of this was helping me tighten my hold on reality. I began shaking and fighting the vomit in my throat. It seemed like a lot of things never happened before this night.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"The object of the game is for them to capture us," Emilie said. "So it can end on three notes: they win or we can avoid them until they get bored, or one of us can get wounded and have to go to the hospital. Like the last time we played."

A loud blast jolted us out of the calm and a few trees were torn down. "This is not good. They've found us. I told you we should've kept going." Emilie said.

"What happens if they capture us?" I rested my heavy head against the dusty ground. A million dust mites flew into my eyes.

"Depends on what kind of sadistic mood Liam is in. He might let us go," Jack said.

"Or he could make us all suck his dick. The rule isn't that whichever team wins gets to boss the other team around. This isn't a real game. The rule is if Liam gets his hands on you, he will own you until adult intervention. The game should really be called Don't-Let-Liam-Get-His-Hands-On-You, because that's what it's about. There's a reason you don't see him around our house."

I gazed around at the three of us dressed in our pajamas and hiding in a decrepit tool shed. It was like something out of a horror film. There was a homicidal maniac in the forest trying to get us, and we could only hide and pray. There was nothing we could do about it because the maniac also happens to be the future king of my country.

"But what about Claire, isn't she in the woods with him? I thought she was supposed to be nice," I said.

They both looked down. "Claire is sort of _in love_ with Liam, so anything involving him…don't expect anything," Jack said.

My body shook my furiously and I realized it was because the ground was quaking. Emilie and Jack didn't look like they had any plans.

"So we're just going to wait to suck his dick?" I asked.

"He's not going to make us suck his dick!" Jack exclaimed and shot a look at Emilie who shrugged. "The last time he found us I had to go the hospital."

"He might make you suck his dick, though, since you're not related to him," Emilie added.

We glared at her and she threw her hands in the air like she was offended.

"I think I'm going to vomit. I don't feel too good," I held my stomach and tried to shake the fuzzy feeling clouding my head.

"Aw, I'm not that bad," A silky voice purred from behind.

Our eyes snapped to the door and there was Prince Liam leaning against the door, smiling.

Emilie screamed and Jack scrambled towards the window behind me. My first thought was that they were going to leave me, and I was right. I guess the prospect of sucking dick proved too much for my kind and loyal friends. Unfortunately, Emilie was standing in front of me and when she coward-ed away using her special vampire speed she _stepped on my knee._

There was a wet crack and mind numbing pain shot through my leg and electrocuted my brain.

In a flurry of pain and panicked screaming I let spill the gunk in my stomach and then blacked out.

At least there was an upside: " _The object of the game is for them to capture us," Emilie said. "So it can end on three notes: they capture us, we avoid them until they get bored, or one of us can get wounded and have to go to the hospital. Like the last time we played."_

Sneezes wracked my body and I woke up spasmodically. Where in the hell was I? Black obsidian walls with silver stripes surrounded me. Fluorescent lights from the high ceiling filled the room with an annoying buzzing sound. I was in a huge bed with black sheets, but my leg, which was currently encased in a cast, was sticking out at an odd angle. Chrome furniture was placed around the room, giving it a futuristic feel.

"Feeling ok?"

I screamed and almost catapulted myself out of the bed. Jack was sitting next to me and was giving me his concerned look. "J-jack?! What happened? Where are we? W-why – my stomach hurts."

I searched for a place to vomit without messing up the bed. The floor was silver and shiny and reflected my distorted face.

"We're in the royal palace. We lost the game, thanks to you," he said bitterly.

I tried to ignore the angry rumba of my heart, a vision of a fat Cassie flashed in front of my eyes. My stomach grumbled most unpleasantly and I closed my eyes to try and lower my stress levels.

"Cassie, you can't avoid me forever," He said and directed my face to his.

Watch me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said and tried to avoid looking directly into his eyes.

"Really? You don't know what I'm talking about? Is that the best you've got?"

"I'm going to vomit."

He frowned and let go of my face. "Cassie, please. You've been locked in your room for two weeks! What are you hiding from? Me?"

My stomach felt like it was being twisted in half and I looked away guiltily. "No, it's not you it's-it's…why are we in the same bed? Why can't we go home? Am I going to have to-to…where's Liam? Were you serious about that dick sucking business?" I asked quickly.

I was getting way too used to waking up I weird places and being put in weird and mostly terrible situations. And I was getting way too used to waking up with Jack next to me.

And I was definitely getting too used to saying 'sucking dick'.

His eyebrows shot up and he blew out his cheeks like he didn't want to talk about it.

Really not good.

"Jack!"

"I don't know! He's the future heir to the throne. He's probably not going to need you to do that. He has servants for that sort of stuff," he said in a rush. "And stop avoiding the subject! Why have you been sending me bottles of blood like the freaking milkman? Aren't we supposed to be friends? You're supposed to be able to tell me everything especially if it's a life changing epiphany that might potentially change our friendship and our lives in the long run."

Right. Because that is totally not what happened.

"So what if I've been locked in my room for three days and haven't had any contact with my friends or family, and I haven't personally fed you, why are you being so clingy? I have a lot of things on my mind right now! My leg is broken! My leg- oh my god my leg."

I let the fact that my leg was mangled and useless sink in. The meat felt loose and broken in my skin like marbles in a bag. I couldn't even see it, it was too plastered up, but I knew that I was going to be in a lot of pain if I moved. "Where's Emilie anyways? Why did she _step on my leg?_ There wasn't anywhere else to run? What kind of dumbass move was that? It hurts so badly."

Jack looked away and made a face, "Emilie…she escaped."

"WHAT? NO FUCKING WAY! Oh my- my leg! She mutilated my leg and then she ran away?" My breaths came in short gasps. I was either having a mental breakdown, a panic attack or an orgasm. Maybe all three at once.

"Calm down, there's nothing we can do about it now. It's just me and you here and –HEY! Stop changing the subject! Tell me what's going on!"

"Just like a married couple."

Jack and I both screamed and clutched each other. Prince Liam was leaning against the door and staring at us. _Again._

"Please don't make me suck your dick!" I cried suddenly. I needed to get the important things out of the way first.

Liam's smiled disappeared and he gave Jack a confused look. Jack shrugged but wrapped an arm around me. I wasn't sure if I should huddle closer or crawl away.

"I won't make any promises about that yet, but I just wanted to welcome you to my home first of all. I've wanted to have you over for quite some time, but Jack's just so clingy. Like a puppy dog. So I did the only thing I could do. Fun game, right?"

I shook my head, but he ignored me.

"So basically, if Jack just let you come over earlier, your leg would still be intact. Like everything else wrong in this world, you can blame him," Liam said.

I stared at him and then leaned into Jack and whispered, "This guy is a major dick."


	15. Passed with a solid F

I stared at Liam and tried to hold my chattering teacup steady. "E-excuse me?"

Liam smiled sweetly and looked up at the large servant guarding the door that Jack was behind. "Isn't that precious Gary? She's speechless."

Gary did not move and neither did I.

"It won't hurt, I promise. Just lie still and we can get this out of the way in no time." Liam stood and glided to my chair. He leaned two hands on the arm rests over my shrinking form and. "Now just tilt your head a little."

My eyes flitted to the door and then back to him. "Um, I don't think this is a good idea, your majesty. If anyone else drinks from me I might get a nasty infection since I'm not used to the m-mouth germs. It took me a while to get used to Jack and I had to be on a w-whole bunch of antibiotics the first month and-"

He rested a not so subtle hand on my cast and squeezed lightly but painfully. "Why Cassie, you insult me. Are you saying I'm not clean or something?" he pouted.

My teacup rattled harder and I pressed farther back into my seat and he leaned closer. I could smell hints of mint and honey and I tried to avoid his deep soulless stare.

Leave it to me to find a way into the intimate quarters of millionaire playboy Prince Liam Charles Timothy Hunter, because I'll find the most inconvenient and painful way possible.

"Of c-course not, Your Majesty, I'm just s-saying that if H-his Grace the D-duke allows me to um, share myself w-with you I'd be happy to oblige, b-but until then I fall directly under his jurisdiction. I wouldn't want to violate any laws, Y-your Majesty." I managed to complete my little legal speech without wiping imaginary sweat from my forehead. It had been almost three hours and he still had me addressing him formally. Liam made a face and sat back in his own chair. "I didn't know Jack went for the smart ones."

"Pardon?"

He stood and walked to the heavily tinted window. It overlooked the sun rising over the horizon, something I had not seen in a long while. Even through the dark window I could feel the light gently searing my skin.

"Well, if that's the case, I'm afraid you're under arrest." He said with a resolute nod.

The cup dropped splashing its cold contents all over the floor.

"Excuse me?" I snapped forgetting etiquette for a moment. The look he gave brought all my lessons back in a rush.

"I, Prince Liam, hold you in contempt of the law thereby placing you under the jurisdiction of me and my household. There. Now move your hair before I have it chopped off." He said and leaned over me again.

I leaned down until my head was touching the seat, "How am I under arrest? I didn't do anything! You can't just make up laws just-"

"Are you questioning me?" He asked sharply. "Rule one staying in my house is never question me. I don't just make up laws for my own purposes; that would spell ruin for the entire country. A smart girl like you should know that. Smart girls should also know the penalty for assaulting a member of the royal family."

"I never even touched you! How could-"

"Have you seen Jack's mouth?" He asked blandly. "Did you guys really think I wouldn't see that? He looks like a freaking robot!"

I was a little thrown off by the reference but still managed to follow his logic. "B-but, they didn't press charges! And you don't know that I did that, it could have been anybody."

He smiled wryly, "I have eyes everywhere, Cassandra. I know it was you…You know, if you just let me drink the first time I asked we wouldn't be in this whole mess. You could have gone home and forgotten about this whole thing. But now, since I arrested you, who knows how long I can keep you here?"

My leg throbbed painfully I was sure that at any moment Liam would descend and bite off my face like the demon he was.

"B-but why _my_ blood? Don't you have a thousand sweetbloods in your basement?"

He paused for a moment and cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, that's right. You can't smell yourself. Trust me when I say, you smell absolutely delicious."

The way he said it made me want to scream and tear my skin off.

"I-if that's the case, your majesty, then I think I need to talk to a lawyer and that you need tangible evidence," I whispered and slid completely off the seat. The chair screeched back and my leg thumped painfully to the ground. I bit back a whimper as the tea soaked into my flannel pajamas. The burning in my knee reverberated throughout my whole body. "If you really wanted to take me to court than you'd need a whole lot more than 'eyes everywhere.' As a prince you of all people should know that. They'd laugh you right off the throne if you dragged me into court with no witnesses and a victim who won't press charges."

Liam stared down at me with a surprised look for a second before bursting out in laughter. "Touché, mademoiselle, touché! Hah! How clever. No wonder Jack won't let you go."

The pain was dizzying and I squeezed my eyes to try and block it out. My pants were soaked from tea and were chilling me to the bone. The sugar irritated my skin and made me sticky.

"Thank you? M-may I be excused now, your majesty?" I asked.

"Leave? Now? But Jennifer's party is in a few hours. I could always send for your clothes so you could change here," He said slickly and slid his tongue across his teeth and then bit his lip to suppress a snicker.

"But then again, Jack's probably already asked you. He'd be so pissed if you left with me. Won't that be great? You're probably not into practical jokes. I suppose I'll have to forego the arrest until after the party. Wouldn't want you to miss that," He continued more to himself than to me.

"I'm not going!" I said quickly.

He pouted mockingly. "Not going? Aw, why not?"

"Fancy dresses aren't really my thing. My leg is broken. I don't feel well. I don't like parties. I have something going on the same day. My mother wants me to visit her," I listed.

He looked up in thought and tapped his lip. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Jennifer, would it?"

I froze, "No."

"Well if you're not going, that probably means Jack has a date and you're free for tonight, right?" He asked and leaned toward me with a grin.

My eye twitched and I leaned back, "Jack's not going either."

He stiffened and stood up. His lips turned down and his brows crinkled in confusion. "Oh, I see. So you two were planning to stay home together and enjoy each other's company alone?"

"Yes."

"And you have not thought about going to the ball at all right?"

"Yes."

"And you're ok with just staying home while a party rages on beyond the sea?"

"Yes."

"Are you in love with Jack?"

"Yes. Wait what? No! I-I mean," I verbally diarrhea-d on any credibility I might have had and Liam gazed at me with a small smile.

"Well this makes things very interesting now," He said and sat cross legged on the floor. "Gary, go get a wheelchair or a power scooter or something."

The huge Gary incredible hulked his way out of the room and Liam and I were alone.

My face burned up and the air wouldn't squeeze down my throat. "I'm-I don't know what…I was distracted and-and I'm not in love with Jack if-if that's what you might have previously thought."

I weakly tried to drum up a plausible by story using big words and looking away. He just stared at my pathetic attempts with a faded smile. "What? No witty comeback? But we were having so much fun just a few seconds ago," he said softly.

The light uncomfortable mood suddenly turned darker and heavy with menace.

"I really think I should go," I said, yet still stuck on the ground like an anchor.

"Is that the best you've got? You have no strategy. And here I thought the game was getting interesting," he said with a sigh. "You lose. I win _again_ …I'm telling Jack."

"What?!" I screamed and nearly jumped up to strangle him. "Y-you can't! I mean, there's nothing to tell b-but you just can't!"

His eyes glittered with mischief and he leaned closer to me. "Really? Why not? What will you do?"

"Anything!"

"Anything? Too vague. Too weak. Come up with something better, with more leverage." He goaded me on in excitement.

The atmosphere was turning frantic and I broke out in a cold sweat with my heart pounding in my chest. Something terrible was happening, but I didn't know what. I didn't know exactly what I would gain, but I knew I had something to lose.

"Come on Cass, I'm threatening to change your life forever. What are you going to do?" He asked.

"Um, uh…Claire! Y-you have something with Claire r-right? Is that something? Is that what you want to hear?" I shrieked.

He stiffened and nodded a head in my direction in silent kudos. "What about Claire? What do you have to use?"

"I-I could tell you something about her," I half pleaded.

He blinked and tongued a fang, "I'm listening."

"She-,"I was about to say 'she's in love with you', not sure if this was news to him or not. What if they were a couple? Even if they weren't it would do know good to blow my load just yet.

"She what?" he asked a little too eagerly.

"I want to go home," I said.

There was a heavy pause and he narrowed his eyes and let loose a dark chuckle, "My, you're quick. Well, I call your bluff. You have to give more leeway than a name. If you can, I'll let you go home and I'll keep your secret. If not-"

"Blood! I'll let you drink my blood," I said. It was the only thing I could think of and where the hell was Jack? How does a person suddenly disappear without a trace?

"Well that's better," Liam said snidely and leaned till our noses were touching. "And don't worry, I'm clean." He opened his mouth wide and his cool breath prickled my already clammy skin.

Suddenly, a rustle and bang stopped the action. Gary was back with my power scooter. Ignoring Liam, he dragged it and gently picked me up by the skull and placed me in it.

Liam leaned on his knee and glared at Gary.

"My apologies, Majesty. Duke Hunter somehow escaped the furnace and requested to their Royal Highnesses that he and Madame Cassandra be sent home immediately," Gary intoned.

"So close," Liam muttered to himself. "Well, _Cassandra,_ we really should do this again sometime. It's not every day that I meet someone who can keep up. Not that you have a choice. We still have a bargain. I'm sure Jack can hear everything clearly right now, now that the door's open."

I revved my mobility scooter and managed to get stuck between the rug and the couch. "You can suck my cock you limp dick loser asshole," I muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, your majesty!" I squeaked as Gary rolled the scooter out of the room. All I saw was Liam's sly smile as I retreated into the darkness of the hallway.

I sighed deeply once we were out of the room's sight. Gary was still dragging me back and my leg jutted out of the scooter at an odd angle.

Candlelight cast shadows from behind and I turned to see Jack and the king and queen sitting in a nicely furnished sitting room. It was all gold casting and embroidery, and it was beautiful.

Jack was sitting on a fancy little couch completely covered in soot and dust but he looked happy to see me.

The King and Queen stood and sighed apologetically. "Lady Cassandra, we are so terribly sorry for any trouble Liam might have caused you. We promise that-that the next time it happens we'll try to stop it sooner. We are so sorry."

A reassuring apology indeed.

"We sent renovators to your residence and they've been repairing your room this whole time. It should be finished now. Honestly, indecency at such an ungodly hour of the day. You don't deserve this at all. If there's anything we can do, do not hesitate to ask."

"I am much obliged your Royal Highnesses, thank you so much. For now, I think it would be best if I just went home," I said and steered the scooter toward Jack.

He winked and stood up. He bowed slightly to the monarchs and walked to the door covering everything in black dirt.

I drove after him before being stopped by a large hand on the back of my scooter. "My apologies but his majesty wanted you to have this before you went. He said you'd need it for the party tonight that you _will_ be going to."

I got the point and took the long package that was clearly a dress from Gary and placed it in my basket.

"Wait, Countess Jennifer's party?" The queen asked. "Oh she's a dear. Her mansion is just a few hours from here. If you stayed we'd let you take the limo. It would be our pleasure to have you stay over."

I suppressed a groan at yet another interruption. "That would be wonderful, but I'm sure we're needed at home, right Jack?"

He looked down and pursed his lips, "Well actually, if we went home we'd never make it in time."

Oh that's right. He wanted to go to the party.

"Perfect! We'll send you to your room and have someone bring over your clothes. You know Cassandra; I've always wanted to meet you…" The queen babbled on and had Gary drag me along with her as she led me down a hall. For some reason the novelty of talking to a queen was not that exciting.

I looked back at Jack and scowled, he shrugged and smiled. If he only knew what he was doing.

Well I guess Liam was right in a way. Whatever happened from here on in, I could totally blame on Jack.


	16. And now we wait

The drive to Jennifer's party was long and awkward. I gazed out the window and into the moonless night, wondering what tonight would bring. The mood couldn't help but feel oddly magical. The dress Liam picked out for me fit perfectly. Long and thin, it clung to me like a second skin instead of fighting me for dominance of my body. It was the color of snow during a dark shadowy night and had little sparkles running through the seams. I did not look like a sea monster.

Too bad I was stuck in a wheel chair. It wasn't as bad as it could have been though. Thanks to super healing, the cast was off, but I was still a bit weak in the knee on account of it being shattered.

The tension could be cut with a knife. Jack was shooting daggers at Liam with death in his eyes while Liam managed to look bored.

Suddenly, tremors rocked the car and I clutched to my chair with a yelp. The boys didn't notice, but as we drove on I noticed it wasn't an earthquake; it was music. Jennifer's castle was approaching. It was a huge mansion with multicolored lights shining from every corner and people milling around lazily. It was regal and elegant and modern and hip all at the same time. The bass shook the earth and techno music drifted from the house. The car slowed and instantly the doors all opened, allowing for the boys to spring out of the cramped space. As for me, I had to wait for the chairlift to start so I could be placed on the ground and then unstrapped from the car.

After I second, I was on the ground and tried to roll myself up the hill. Unsuccessful.

"Let me help you with that," Jack said before I could complain and he rolled me up. He stopped abruptly just as a piercing shriek shot through the air.

"IT'S PRINCE LIAM AND DUKE JACK!" There was a barrage of color and high heels as all the females on the lawn ran to the boys. I could only stare in shock as dozens of girls 100x prettier than me surrounded Jack and pushed me out of the way. He didn't even have time to spare me an apologetic look as my wheelchair steadily rolled down the hill.

Crap, the brakes were sticking and I was picking up speed. If I crashed, not only would I be in an awesome amount of pain, I'd probably start bleeding and become a nice dinner for the first vampire who reached me.

I was as fast as hypersonic-robo-squirrel now, and knew the harsh desert sand would be hitting me soon. I braced for impact and impending doom when I stopped mid crash with a screech from the tires.

"Now wouldn't that have been a shame," Liam purred into my ear. I shuddered and managed not to gag. A crowd of girls were waiting for us at the top of the hill in anticipation. When they saw that he caught me, they cheered. Jack was nowhere in sight.

"Thank you, your majesty," I muttered begrudgingly.

"Not at all, just performing my princely duty," he said to a chorus of sighs from the girl audience.

"He saved her!"

"He's so brave!"

"What a hero, saving that little boy's life."

They were falling all over themselves for him, and he loved it. Who did he think he was manipulating those poor women into thinking he was some sort of saint?

"Remember, nothing distracts better than a good story," he whispered in my ear before smiling courteously at the women. Now where did I hear that before?

They parted and let us through before trailing after Liam at a respectful distance. What?! Fan girls expressing fear and respect for boundaries? No way!

"Where's Jack?" I asked suddenly, painfully aware of his absence. Liam looked down at me and shrugged. "Sad because he didn't come to your rescue?"

A little.

"Jack?" I called to the night, and there was no reply.

Liam stopped pushing me abruptly. "If you want him so badly, you can find him yourself. As for me, I've got more important things to tend to," he said and walked back to the girls.

I looked at the bumpin' mansion and the crowds of rich people discussing rich things around it. It wasn't my style, but it seemed that I had no choice. I was in this alone. I manually rolled up the ramp to a balcony overlooking the dance floor, feeling very self conscience and managed to get myself stuck in the doorway, blocking it for anyone who wanted to enter or leave.

The main ballroom was huge and filled to the brim with people. The people danced in quick sharp movements that blended together in a sexy blur. The theme could be seen everywhere. Red streamers, red balloons, red wallpaper, red masks adorned every corner. The only things that varied in color were the clothes. Even though this party was supposed to be about me, no one even bothered to nod in my direction.

"Cassie! Happy one year anniversary!"

I jumped and looked up at tall willowy girl smiling at me. She was wearing a plain black and pink dress that almost looked like a uniform.

"Uh, thanks," I responded slowly. "You! It's uh, nice to see you?"

With her smile still frozen on her face she straightened and threw her hands up, "It's me, Claire! Remember? I was there your first day at St. Sesame? I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that."

Slowly her face reassembled into something I recognized. "Oh yeah! Wow, I'm so sorry. How are you? How's it been- wait! Whoa, wait a minute; you're the one who bombed my room yesterday!"

She straightened and grimaced, "Oh dear..."

"Hell yeah oh dear! Look at my leg! Why would you do something like that?! What's wrong with you?" I shouted and managed to narrowly miss her foot with my chair.

Claire's brow furrowed and she tried to shush me gently as I began to attract attention. "I'm sorry, I didn't- Liam asked and-and-"

I shook my head. "Of course, just shrug all the blame onto-"

"Claire, what are you doing standing around?! The codfish patties are running low on table 16! Who the hell are – _you_ ," I jumped as a harsh voice tore through my big speech before I even started it.

I craned my neck to see Jennifer towering over us dressed in a regal scarlet gown. Her hair was dyed a flaming unrealistic red, but it seemed appropriately matched to the hellfire in her eyes.

"Um, Hi Jennifer!" I said weakly.

She fumed silently for a bit before remembering her manners. Jennifer sighed deeply and closed her eyes, "Oh, hello Lassie"

"Cassie."

"C _assie_ , of course, I'm so glad you could make it. Please, make yourself at home. Help yourself to food and drinks below. Jack's here with you, right? I haven't seen him yet," She said with a softer tone and looked to the doorway hopefully.

A pang of sadness bit through me and bitterness ran through at her obvious longing. "The moment we arrived he ran off with a bunch of girls and I haven't seen him since," I said sardonically.

Part of me was happy because of the way her face fell, the other part was sad because it was true.

"Oh, ok. Just asking. Anyways, enjoy yourself and have a great time. CLAIRE!" The moment Jennifer turned from me, she screamed for Claire who was right behind her, practically shaking.

"You're just aching to find a way to ruin my party aren't you," Jennifer hissed. "You see the girl in a wheelchair and you don't bring her to the elevator? How stupid are you?! And when you get downstairs would you _please_ get someone to refill the patties on table 16 and unpack the dessert dishes? Will you do that, your highness?"

Claire stared at her with mouth agape before nodding and dragging my chair to some dark corner.

We waited in the dark for the elevator until I had to ask. "Why is she bossing you around like a servant?"

She was silent. The elevator came; it was striped red and pink and tainted with red light from above.

"She's not bossing me around, I'm just helping with the party and she's a bit stressed. That's all," Claire responded and pressed level B.

"She openly humiliated you in front of all those guests like you were a minimum wage worker and why did you bomb my house? I didn't forget about that. Why in the world would you do something like that?" I whined.

Claire sighed and rocked my chair back and forth as if trying to shut me up. "It's- well, I just- Why aren't you mad at Liam? He's the one who- well; I'm the one who gave him the idea for it."

"I would be openly mad at his _majesty_ , but he has to be one of the scariest people I have ever met…what do you see in him anyway?"

The moment the word left my mouth, she punched the 'stop' button so hard sparks flew and spun me around. "What do you mean what do I see in him? We're just friends! Who's saying otherwise?" she yelled and gripped the my armrests until it splintered.

"W-what? A-aren't you guys dating or something? I-I just thought, since you were in love with him-"

"WHO TOLD YOU?! WAS IT JENNIFER? DID JENNIFER TELL YOU THAT?! SHE SWORE SHE WOULDN'T TELL IF I DID EVERYTHING SHE WANTED! AH! I'M GOING TO KILL HER!" Claire screeched and punched dents into the elevator wall.

I screamed and covered my ears. I was going to die. I was trapped in a metal box with a 'roid ragin' vampire. "NO! SHE DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING, I SWEAR! I WON'T SAY ANYTHING EITHER! OH MY GOD!"

The punching stopped and she turned to me with face livid and eyes wet, "If she didn't tell you then who did?"

"E-Emilie," I felt kind of bad about snitching on her, but then again not really. Bitch broke my leg. "S-she told me the other night when you were terrorizing us. She said that was why you were doing these terrible things to us, because Liam was like…I don't withholding sex from you or something, but that's not right because you guys aren't together, right?"

I babbled my brains out and she stared at me on the verge of tears, "Emilie knows? B-but, oh my gosh I am so humiliated. I can't believe it! He probably knows and now I'm going to have to kill myself."

She sobbed and her bloody tears muddled with her mascara to create a huge freaking mess.

"No, don't cry! I don't think he knows! I was over his palace earlier and-"

"You were over his house?"

"Y-yeah."

"Oh great! He invites you over after one day? He's probably in love with you! Why would he want a techno geek like me when he can have a smart, funny, cool girl like you!?"

She started bawling again and I was pretty sure everyone outside could hear us.

"No! You're beautiful! He probably likes you too, but just doesn't want to tell you because…hey I bet that if we stay in here long enough, Jennifer will definitely tell Liam."

Her eyes widened and she did some technical bull-crap to the elevator panel to make it drop us off in the servant's quarters.

"Oh, I'm really sorry, but do you mind if we stop here for a moment so I could get the salmon patties? Then after we can discuss this, ok? It nice to have at least one nice person who knows my secret. I have so much I need to talk about," she said through wet sniffles.

I nodded warmly, "Take all the time you need."

Needless to say, I bolted the moment she turned her back. Through the kitchen I weaved my way through tall metal shelves and chefs and men carrying boxes. A red neon sign that read 'Exit' was my north star. The aisles became narrower and narrower and I eventually had to ditch the wheelchair.

My leg was a bit weak at the joint, but nothing a little fear couldn't cure.

"Cassie? Where'd you go?"

I hobbled faster until cool night breeze caressed my face and led me out into the darkness. I kept hobbling until I reached a large expanse of trees and found a patch of soft green grass.

The night didn't even start and already I was sitting alone. I wished Terry was there with me. When I told her that I wasn't going, she begrudgingly decided to stay home also. I didn't have time to tell her what happened.

At the edge of the forest I saw dark shapes flitting toward me until they stomped and turned out to be a tall girl in a light chartreuse dress. "Uh, hi," she said. "Did you happen to see Duke Hunter anywhere?"

No. I haven't seen him in practically two days, and he doesn't seem to care. But he should be getting hungry soon so he should be here in a few. At least I'm connected to him through his stomach.

I shook my head, more to clear it than to answer, but the look on my face seemed to concern her, "Oh, don't worry. We could look for him together if you want," she offered.

I smiled flatly, "Thanks, but I'm fine."

"Are you sure? We can both be seekers," she said.

Seeker?

"You're playing hide and go seek?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm it and I'm supposed to find almost ten other people. Pretty ridiculous, huh?"

I looked down, and tried not to let that icky feeling of being ditched show on my face. Ironic since that was the exact thing I just did to Claire. "Yeah. If I see him I'll tell him you stopped by."

She smiled and flew away and I buried my head in my knees.

What a night.

"There you are! What happened to your wheelchair?" Jack said suddenly. My head snapped up and I let my eyes adjust to the darkness. "Is the party over?" I asked drowsily.

"Of course not. Were you sleeping just now? Wow, mood killer, even in a public place? You never miss an opportunity to kill the mood," he tittered.

When I didn't respond with my usual growl and quip he tactfully changed the subject. "So, you're not in a wheelchair anymore. That's great!"

It hurt the way he seemed all cheery and carefree, while I was sitting there feeling bummed out and lonely. It must've been nice being a heartless womanizer.

I sighed deeply and wished the party would just end already so I could go back to burying myself in my bed and start working on becoming the fattest woman alive.

Maybe I was a mood killer.

"Cass, what's the matter? Aren't you enjoying the party?" Jack asked and sat by me.

"Of course, it's great. There was this pretty girl looking for you. You better leave before she finds you. I hate seeking," I said.

He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and stared at the ground instead. "You can't keep doing this to me, Cassie. If you don't want to talk about what happened, that's fine. I'll give you all the time you need. But I can't let you sit there looking depressed. What is the matter? You know you can tell me anything."

If only. I began feeling bad for what I did to Claire. She probably really needed someone to talk to. She must be freaking out knowing that some stranger knows her secret and is running around her party. At least no one was blackmailing me…oh wait. Liam. My stomach grumbled in anxiety. I could feel the ulcers burning through my stomach wall.

Jack put a soft arm around me, but I pulled away and tried to limp back to the kitchen.

"Cassie," He warned and tugged on my arm.

"What? Are you hungry?" I turned to face him with an annoyed look instead of the previous depressed one.

"No, but-"

"I am."

"HOLY SH- WOULD YOU STOP DOING THAT?" I screamed as Liam slinked out from behind a tree. Smiling. _Again._

"Nice to see you too," Liam said sarcastically. "Enjoying the party? Don't answer that because I don't care. In fact, I prefer it that my meals don't talk."

Jack stepped in front of me defensively, "What are you talking about? What is he talking about?"

I gasped and turned away. For crying out loud, did he have no scruples or ethics at all?

"Yeah, Cassie, what am I talking about?" Liam asked innocently. "Tell me what I should be talking about."

I bit my lip and stepped forward much to Jack's alarm. "Cassie what are you doing?"

"It's not that big of a deal," I said and let Liam adjust my neck and hair.

"Yeah, Jack. She's doing this of her own free will. I suggest you just stand there and take it," Liam said darkly. "Unless of course, Cassandra has something to say."

Jack glowered at him and clenched his fist in muted rage. "Cassie…stop this."

I took a deep breath and looked down.

"I thought so," Liam said and lowered his mouth to my neck. This was so unhygienic.

But, before he bit-

"TAG YOUR IT! Terry, go tell that girl that we found him," Emilie yelled and crashed into Liam. I jumped back as they rolled away and Terry jogged up behind wearing the red dress.

"First of all, we're playing hide and go seek not tag," Terry panted. "Second of all Jack was it not Liam and third of all, who the hell do you think you are coming to the party without telling me?" This last part was directed at me as Jack and I stared at them in astonishment.

"What? How did-"

"You are so lucky Emilie came to find me earlier. If I missed this party I would have been so pissed I would have had to kill you," she said and jabbed me with her pointer. "Well what do you have to say for yourself?"

I looked up at the dark sky and sighed. "Thanks you, God," I whispered. "You really know how to make an entrance."

Terry shot Jack a look, but he was too busy looking at Emilie who was crouching over Liam.

"Guys," she whispered. "He's not moving."

We exchanged wide eyed looks.

"BOUNCE!" Terry screamed.

And that's exactly what we did.


	17. Oooh you're in trouble

It was just us in the far reaches of the woods. Jack and Cassie. The mansion was booming in the distance, but out here, it was just crickets and the slight bass. It was overlooking an empty plain with the shadow of mountains hitting the horizon. Terry and Emilie had bounced in another direction. I had made the ill advised decision to follow Jack in the bouncing area.

Right now, Jack was leaning against a tree and glaring at me. His body was taut anger with arms crossed tightly against him. "What the hell was that?" he growled through gritted teeth.

I rubbed the back of my neck and looked down, trying to think of a viable lie. "Uh, I have…um. It's not what you think; h-he was just…"

"He was just what? About to suck your blood? Yeah, I kind of saw that part already, fast forward to when it makes sense." He exclaimed.

"I don't know why you're getting so angry, it wasn't like we were getting married," I said. No it was much worse. Like finding out your wife also had ten other guys on the side.

"Of course not! It's not that bad! In fact, I was _expecting_ this to happen! He steals everything from me, so it's only natural that he steals…" he trailed off unable to finish the words.

"He's not stealing me, Jack. That's ridiculous. He's too much of an asshole," I said and then looked around. That was usually when Liam would suddenly appear from behind a tree or something. The coast was clear so I continued. "You know that I would never leave you. Ever. I swear."

"Then what were you doing?! Just tell me! Explain it to me!" He vampired himself in front of me and bored into me with his glare.

I licked my lips and took a deep breath. "I c-can't tell you."

His eyes went wide and confused.

"Jack, you've become my best friend, even more than Terry so I'm not going to lie to you, but I can't tell you."

He tongued his one fang thoughtfully. "You can't tell me? We're friends, but you can't tell me," he echoed. "Well that makes me feel so much better."

He turned and began walking back. I ran after him and tugged on his arm, "Jack, wait! I'm sorry. Please, just trust me when I say that-that-"

I was so busy trying to get out the words that I couldn't think of what to say next.

"Jack, I would n-never betray your trust like that, so trust me when I say that I was going to let Liam bite me for a good reason. Please."

He stopped a walking and turned to me, "And that reason is?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?! Is he blackmailing you or something?" he asked.

I stayed silent and coughed a little.

"He's blackmailing you?" Jack exclaimed and an incredulous smile grew on his face. "About what? Wait…does he know what happened?"

Sure.

I shrugged and the smile grew even wider.

"So in order to keep the secret, he ordered you to let him drink your blood?" Jack said.

I nodded.

He looked down in thought and then combed his fingers through his hair. "You know…sex isn't all that uncommon between couples who've done the blood ritual. In fact, it's kind of expected. Do you get me?

"No…where are you going with this?" I asked and took a step back.

"Well, if he were to tell everyone what happened, it wouldn't really matter. It would already be assumed. If we did the blood ritual, I mean," he said and took a step toward me.

"You want to do the blood ritual? W-with me? Now?" I stuttered? That was a bit impulsive, to say the least. We would be connected in every way, making the time when I turn morbidly obese all the more depressing.

"No, not now. I've been thinking about this for a while, and well…why aren't you saying anything? You don't want to do it, do you?"

"No, that's not it at all. That's a really big leap. You'd do the blood ritual just to keep a secret?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Well, it's my secret too. It's not something we want everyone to know about, right?" He said slowly, as if testing me.

My stomach tied itself into little knots and I looked up at him. "You're ashamed of it?"

We looked at each other with a touch of fear in both of our eyes. "Aren't you?"

"There you guys are! Thought you ditched us," Terry said when we walked to the table she and Emilie were sitting at. The party was dying down since it was getting late. Only servants and caterers were shuffling around.

"I bet they snuck into the woods to make out," Emilie said and slammed down a tall drink.

"You got the last part right, but just not with Cassie," Jack said and winked at Terry who elbowed me perversely. Like nothing even happened, he was back on track.

The word 'ditch' got me thinking about poor Claire. I wondered how she would feel knowing that her crush is lying face down in her backyard somewhere. "You guys mind if I invite Claire to sit with us? She's kind of depressed."

"No way," Emilie slurred. "We gotta get out of 'ere. I just cracked the heir apparent's skull on a rock. He should be waking up anytime now, and we don't want to be here when he wakes up…cause we'll be in a lot a lot of trouble. A lot."

"Is she drunk?" I whispered to Terry. She nodded.

"Ok, we better get out of here," I said and helped Emilie up.

"I know that. I made Emilie call up the limousine before she got all sauced up. It should be outside right now," Terry said.

We began walking to the door, when there was an ear piercing squeal.

"Oh, Jack! There you are!" Jennifer exclaimed. "I have been waiting for you all night!" She flounced up and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

He stumbled back and held her away from him. "Uh, yeah nice party, I'll be seeing you," he said.

"What you're leaving already? But I just saw you! Stay a little longer. For me!" she whined and pressed up against him.

He frowned. "Yeah, I would, but I'm not here alone. It would be rude."

She beamed and coiled her arm around his. "That's not a problem at all! I'll call a car to send you back on time. It'll be fine. What are you going to do at home anyway?"

"Go ahead and stay, Jack," Terry said, totally missing the point. "Emilie's drunk, Cassie's tired and I don't live here. It'll be a long pointless drive from my house and back. Go ahead and have fun without us."

He narrowed his eyes at her, and I covered my face in embarrassment and silent fury.

"Fine. I'll stay…if Cassie can stay also."

My head snapped up. Jack was smirking at Jennifer who was staring at me.

"But she's exhausted! Just look at her face. And wasn't she in a wheelchair a few hours ago? It would be best if she went home with the others," She said, ever the courteous host.

Jack shrugged and walked to me, "Too bad."

We walked to the door.

"Ok, fine she can stay!" Jennifer exclaimed. "Claire! Come here!"

Claire was by us in a flash. "Claire, could you escort Duchess Hunter and…Terry? To their limousine please? Duke Jack and his _Sang Royale_ will be staying late."

Claire sighed and followed Terry and Emilie.

"Do you know what happened to Liam?" I whispered when she passed by me.

"He left a while ago," she replied.

I exhaled deeply. Jack and Jennifer were seated at a clean table and I followed suit.

Jennifer immediately dipped into a story about a famous author she met and I tried not to gag. She was all over Jack.

Stupid pretty girl and her wonderful exciting life. Against her I didn't stand a chance.

"Ok, Cassie?" Jack said and nudged me.

I shook myself awake. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, 'you don't look so good. We should be heading back now.' Is that OK with you?" He repeated.

Jennifer stared at me with an expectant eyebrow.

"Oh, yes. It's fine. It's a dangerous world for a poor defenseless girl like me. I should get no special treatment," I said. "We're not in fairy country after all. However, since I somehow stumbled into your protection I ought to make the best of it. Not every girl is as lucky as me."

She raised her chin in a silent kudos and then stood up. "Jack, it was wonderful seeing you. We should really do this again sometime," Jennifer preened and hugged him. She turned to me and held out her hand. "A pleasure seeing you again, Cassandra."

"What the hell was that?" Jack said once we were in Jennifer's Rent-a-limo.

"What was what?"

"Ok, you _have_ to tell me what that was," he said.

I raised an eyebrow.

He stretched dramatically yanked me to his chest. "Oh, it's so dangerous out there," he said in a high pitched voice. "You better protect me, Jack!"

I stiffened and felt my face turn hot. "I didn't say that."

"Were you trying to get Jennifer jealous?" he blurted.

"What? H-how did- why would you s-say something so- I don't know what you're talking about," I stuttered. He beamed and let his jaw drop in shock.

"That is so cute! Engaging in feminine warfare over me? Cassie, I'm flattered," he gushed and hugged me.

He smelled like the ocean. I yanked myself away. "N-no I wasn't! I was making a serious comment."

Soft fingers directed my chin upwards so we were looking into each other's eyes. "And I was seriously flattered. Pragmatic Cassie was jealous over me?"

I frowned and pulled his hand down, "Cut it out, Jack. That's not funny."

"Who's laughing?" He brushed hair out of my eyes and leaned closer to me as if for a kiss.

"Cut it out! I'm serious," I said and pushed away.

"Fine! Don't talk to me about anything," he snorted. "It's not like we're friends or anything."

I wonder how the dictionary defines 'or anything.'


	18. I De Clare War

"Watcha doin'?"

I screamed and nearly catapulted myself off the bed. If it wasn't for the thick cocoon of covers wrapped around me, I surely would've fallen.

Jack had somehow penetrated my comforter fortress and was now less than a hairbreadth away from me.

"You know, wrapping yourself up won't make you a burrito," he whispered.

I glared at him pulled out a chunk of cover to bury my face in.

"Why won't you talk to me? Burying yourself won't turn you into a burrito and it won't make me stop caring, so stop freaking out," he said and yanked the cover away.

His tone was serious, and I could tell he was getting annoyed. At any moment he was going to dangle me out the window by my foot and demand the truth.

"You want to know what's wrong? Do you really want to know?" I snapped.

He nodded eagerly.

I took a deep breath and dragged a hand across my face. "I'm depressed."

He raised an eyebrow. "Depressed?" He asked skeptically. "You live in a huge gorgeous castle, rent free with everything you can ever want, you're getting free tuition to one of the most prestigious universities in the world and then there's me: the most handsome man in the world and you're depressed?"

When he put it like that it made me sound ungrateful.

"Phrasing it like that doesn't make me any less depressed," I said.

"Well fine," he huffed. "But just look at your room. Everything's dark and musty and gray. It's like an attic in here. There are cob webs in the corner and you're buried under ten pounds of cloth! Did you know the last time this quilt was used, a person died under it? Of course you're depressed."

"You're making it worse, Jack."

He furrowed his brow and pouted. "Then how do I make it better?"

"Better? You're the c-," I nearly said 'cause' but it was covered up by my laughter. The idea was so stupid I couldn't contain it.

He stared at me before his expression turned dark. "And what pray tell is so funny?"

I immediately stopped and choked the laughter back down. "Uh, n-nothing. What were we talking about?"

He leaned over me so that I was trapped beneath him. "You were telling me what was wrong," he said coolly.

"Right," I said and turned away from his closeness. "What's wrong is…the reason I am sad is because…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to go out the window?"

"The blood ritual!"I blurted out. "I'm concerned about the blood ritual!" It was the only thing I could think of that wasn't a complete lie but not the total truth.

His eyes went wide, and he sat up. "What? The b-blood ritual? You've been thinking about that?"

"A little. I don't want to put any pressure on you though, we have plenty of time," I said quickly, trying to cop out of what I just said.

He ran a hand through his hair and swallowed nervously. "Well actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about it for a while. Ever since the beach. But then you started freaking out and I couldn't exactly ask anymore. But I guess if that's what's been making you act all weird lately, then we can start talking about it now. I'm just glad to know it isn't me."

I stared at him. He had been thinking about the blood ritual? He was considering binding himself to me for eternity? To me: future fattest woman in the world? Even if he got married to his soul mate who also happened to be his long lost Siamese twin, we'd be more connected in ways they could only dream about.

I shot up, nearly breaking Jack's nose with my forehead. "R-really? You were actually thinking about it?"

His eyes went wide at my sudden eagerness. "Yes."

A bubble of exhilaration burst in my chest and the morning's depression melted into anxiety. I always knew we would have to do the blood ritual sometime, but it always seemed so unreal.

"The blood ritual is a huge step, Jack. You need to be absolutely sure you know what you're getting into," I said. "Maybe you should take some time to reflect on your own."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you trying to make me leave?"

"I don't know! You're thinking about binding yourself to me for eternity "I yelled. "You're obviously not in your right state of mind!"

"Stop screaming! I know it's not all about the blood ritual. You've been avoiding me and I'm sick of it," he said and followed me to the window. "Talk to me! I promise that I won't get mad or overreact or something. We'll never get anywhere with you not talking!"

He grabbed me by the shoulders and stared deeply into my eyes. He seemed sincere enough. Would it be so bad if I told him? I know that I shouldn't go into this expecting him to change for me, but at least I'd have our few weeks together. On the other hand, if I didn't say anything I'd be stuck in emotional limbo for the rest of my life. He'd never realize my true feelings and would unknowingly go off with someone else because he never saw me as a romantic option. I'd go spiraling into depression, gain a lot of weight and…

Well, you know the rest.

I took a deep breath and blew it out violently. Energy began coursing through me and I jumped up and down and waggled my hands to psyche myself up. "Ok Jack. I'm going to tell you!"

He squinted at me. "Why are you jumping?"

"Let me get ready," I said patted my cheeks. Blood rushed to my face making me feel feverish.

"Ok, hurry up before someone comes and distracts us. I can feel it coming," Jack said and glared at the door.

"Hold on, I'm almost finished," I said and wobbled my head one last time. "Alright! Are you ready for this?"

"Go for it," he said.

"But are you ready?" I screamed.

"Stop screaming!

"Ok, here I go. J-jack I…" The words died in my throat as did my courage.

"Yes? I'm listening," he said through gritted teeth.

"Jack! I-I um… ok let me get psyched one more time!"

"Cassie!"

"I'm sorry, I'm not as confident as I look and this is really hard!" I said and pawed at my face.

"I am about to strangle the truth out of you! Are trying to bring down my wrath on purpose?"

He looked like he was ready to pounce and I jumped on a chair in a mild attempt at self defense. "Ok! I'm psyched up. Jack, when we went to the beach the other day I realized that-"

"Cassie come out here right now!" Emilie suddenly shouted from the doorway.

"DAMN IT!" Jack screamed. "Cassie! Don't move you are going to tell me right now!"

I looked from him to Emilie's urgent gesturing. "I think it's an emergency," I said softly and eased my way toward the door.

"That's because it is. Don't argue with me Jack I'm not in the mood. Get your ass downstairs right now! But not you Jack. He doesn't want you there."

Before he could ask who, she pulled me to the conference room, which was really strange. Only ambassadors and business people went in there. It was a nicely furnished room. Sally and Robert were sitting at the head of the long mahogany table staring at something really angrily.

I looked to the other end of the table and winced. Liam and a wide dimply hideous man were sitting and smiling at us genteelly.

"Wonderful! You're finally here," Liam said to me and leaned forward.

"What's going on?" I asked Sally without taking my eyes off Liam.

She didn't answer, but looked down at her hands.

"Ok, mom we're both here," Emilie said and folded her arms. "Can you tell me what's so urgent?"

Robert sighed and gestured for us to sit. "Emilie, uh, Prince Liam has decided that…," he trailed off and shook his head.

Emilie and I exchanged weirded out looks and she turned to Liam. "Listen, if this has anything to do with knocking you out at Jennifer's party, then we can settle this outside. You don't need to drag my parents and whoever that is." She waved a hand at the ogre.

Liam smiled and stood up. "Emilie, please. I would never let such paltry manners sully my judgment for the country. Cassandra, have you and Jack done the blood ritual yet?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"But when you signed the contract to become their SweetBlood you became a part of their household? And that's almost like you're a part of the family," he said. This was weird. He actually sounded kind and considerate, but with a touch of smugness. Like we were playing a game and he was about to win. Duchess Cassandra, right?

"Am I on trial? You know the answers to these questions right? So why are you asking them?" I mimicked in his infuriatingly calm voice.

A flash of anger passed through his eyes before returning to their previous gentle state.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of your duties to our great country," he said and raised his eyes to the heavens in a patriotic fashion.

"Duties? What duties?" I asked and looked to Sally and Robert who were avoiding my gaze.

"So you don't know? See what happens when you don't follow directions?" He frowned condescendingly. That sounded like it was meant in reference to another time. "You are royalty. As such, there are certain duties that only you can perform. You didn't think princesses and countesses just sat around all day eating bonbons, right? No, when the time was right they came to the aid of their country without complaint. A truly admirable quality."

"Prince Liam, did you come here to recite a ballad, or you have an actual purpose?" Emilie snapped.

He ignored her continued. "This handsome man is Emperor Grant von Perforate of Ranford. As you already know relations with this superpower have been weak at best so of course the best course of strategy would be to strengthen them."

He paused for effect as we let the words marinate in our brains.

"No!" Emilie hissed and tore away from the table like it was on fire. "You can't do that!"

"Yes I can. And I am as a matter of fact I am. That's why I called you both here," Liam replied sweetly.

My hands shook with fear and I broke out in a cold sweat. He was going too far. My throat clamped up and I couldn't speak.

"Mom! Dad! Why are you just sitting there! Do something! He can't do this right!? Call Aunt Grace! Make her stop him!" Emilie was beginning to whine, something I never saw before.

They looked at her helplessly.

"Stop me? But I just got started! Don't you know that Ranford is the leading exporter of steam powered products? We would no longer have to rely on gas and coal to pollute our air and water! It's the technological revolution and I'm starting it before I'm even king! Dad has been trying for years to get this guy on our side and look at me now!" He exclaimed.

"King Benton would never do something like this," Emilie said. "No matter what you do you will never be half the man your father is.

"Emilie! You wound me," he pouted. "It's not up to dear old dad anymore. Even if I wanted to stop this, I couldn't. Emperor Grant is pretty into this idea. If we stop it now, he might wage a treasury draining war on us and we really don't need that on our heads now do we?"

Emilie gripped her chest in an effort to catch her breath. "B-but why? Y-you just c-can't!"

"We went over this already," he said and paused. "Cassandra, you've been awfully quiet. Any thoughts?"

I could tell that he wanted me to burst our crying or screaming, but I was in too much shock to even move. But there was one thing about this terrible situation that I didn't quite understand.

"Why did you call both of us in here?" I asked slowly. "If you're doing what I think you're doing, why both?"

His smile grew even wider. "Someone's got stuffy ears. You're just as good as a duchess, Cassandra. All the benefits and all the responsibilities."

"You're the only one who can take Emilie's place," were Aunt Sally's first words to me the whole day.

"WHAT?" Emilie screamed and crouched down and held her head. "This can't be happening. This cannot be happening!"

"Your lack of faith in my abilities is astounding," Liam said. "Yes, it is time for the duchesses of St. Sesame to pay their dues. The fate of the country rests on your young noble shoulders. Let's just hope the emperor is satisfied with one of you. I would've given him a wider selection but…" He stopped abruptly and coughed. There was a sudden change in his mannerism that I couldn't put my finger on.

By now, I was completely emotionally numb. The day's events were going to hit me very hard later on, but right now I was a cold and calculating soulless creature. Just like Liam.

"But you can. There are plenty of available courtiers," I said flatly.

They all turned to me in confusion. "Cassie, what are you saying? Don't encourage this!" Emilie wept.

"In fact, isn't there one who is simply obsessed steam powered mechanics? I'm sure she would love to meet you," I said and turned my unwavering stare to Liam. "Don't you think so your majesty?"

He cocked his head infinitesimally as if he wasn't sure what I was getting at.

"Really?" The Emperor spoke and his voice was thick and sloppy like gravy. "And who would this eligible bachelorette be?"

I smiled weakly and tried not to dry heave. "She's a Countess. Countess Claire de Glenn and I'm sure she would do anything for his Majesty. Her devotion to him is unwavering, isn't it your majesty?"

Liam's mouth fell open in shock and the Emperor's gravy laugh rumbled the table. "I've heard about the De Glenn family. A handsome family, indeed." He elbowed Liam in a lewd way, but Liam was too busy to notice. He looked like he was going to jump the table and strangle me.

So sorry Claire. It was either me or you.

"Cassie! What is wrong with you?" Emilie shouted.

My belly boiled as I realized what I just did and for what reason. I was going to vomit and I was going to do it soon. And maybe tack some diarrhea to the end of that.

"No. May I be excused?" I asked softly and tried to steady myself as to not upset my stomach even more.

"No? No to what? Oh jeez, you look like you're going to vomit! Go get some water," Emilie said and scrambled away.

"Shit, I need to- oh man," I doubled over and let the world spin around me.

Goodbye fat Cassie, hello Suicidal Cassie.

In the course of a one minute my life just got a whole lot worse than I previously imagined. Why oh why didn't I do the blood ritual? Why oh why didn't I tell Jack how I felt? Because at this time one year from now, chances are that walrus of a man will be kneeling between my legs, painstakingly trying to hold his immense body up from crushing me, trying to force his dick in my-

"Shit!" Emilie screamed and flew into her father's arms. I wished my father was here. My tummy juiced spilled onto the table and I promptly collapsed on the floor. Another wave of nausea crashed into me and I destroyed the antique carpeting.

Jack was there in an instant but he stumbled when he saw our guests. "What the hell is that?" He said in reference to Emperor Grant. "What is going on? Cassie! Ew!"

He pulled me up and I leaned into his embrace.

"What are you doing?" The emperor growled thickly and leaned toward us.

"Ah, ah Jack. I don't think Emperor Grant likes the way you're touching his potential fiancée," Liam said.

"Fiancé? What in the hell are you talking about? Liam why are you here?" He yelled and pulled me closer.

"Duke Jack, please meet your future brother-in-law Emperor Grant von Perforate."

"Ew! Emilie that's gross," Jack said.

"Jack it's horrible!" she sobbed into her father's shoulder. "Liam arranged a marriage for me to that guy over there and Cassie's the only one who can replace me!"

"I'm interested in that De Glenn girl, too Liam. I want to meet her," the Emperor grumbled.

"Wait did you just say a-arranged marriage?" He looked down at me and then at the Emperor before his eyes rolled into his head and he fainted.

His parents rushed to him and a stream of servants came carrying water and moist towels as if they were waiting for this moment. I backed away from the chaos and leaned against the wall in the corner. In the darkness I stared at Liam and the walrus man. Liam was wincing as if he didn't expect things to turn out so bad. The Emperor, on the other hand, was grinning slyly.

"They're so feisty," He grunted. "I like feisty girls. What's the disposition of the De Glenn girl?"

Liam grimaced but took a deep breath. He creaked his head in my direction and shook his head like I was going to regret being alive. This wasn't a game anymore. It was war.


	19. Chapter 19

"You're not going," Jack said. He was pacing around my room like a caged tiger. "You are not going."

He had been repeating that for the past 10 minutes. Emperor Grant and Liam were waiting for Emilie and me downstairs so that he could 'Go see about that De Glenn girl'. I did not look forward to seeing how Claire would react when she met Grant. She seemed like a bit of an over reactor. Emilie locked herself in her room the first chance that got. After vomiting on everything, I ran out of the room screaming hysterically. I threatened to kill myself several times before tiring out and collapsing on my bed.

The room looked so much brighter and cheerier now that I was faced with having to live chained to an ogre's throne. My poor sweet bed, my tall clear mirror, my- egad! My shower! My magic boiling magic finger massage steam shower!

"Jack," I said. "Kill me."

"What?" It was his first actual word of the evening.

"Do you remember what I said when I saw this room and you asked if I wanted a different one?" I asked and began preparing myself for death. Socks on or off? Should I put on some make up first?

"Yeah," he replied. "You said 'I would die before leaving this shower.'"

"Precisely. Now, remove my brain and then burn it or smash it or eat it I don't care." I placed a towel in front of him and kneeled on it.

"I'm not going to kill you, Cassie. Get up," he said and rubbed his forehead. "Stop being an idiot and help me think of something!"

When the pressure comes up, that's when you see your true friends. A friend is supposed to be there for you at every turn no matter what. Now instead of getting the homicide I deserved, I was going to have to commit suicide.

The most common form of zombie suicide is by sticking a high powered projectile into the mouth. Like a gun or a crossbow. Where did I see weapons in this house?

I looked from Jack to the door and then quietly got up and walked out.

"Where are you going?" he asked and I banged into his chest.

"N-nowhere. I just want to visit the house again b-before I leave," I said and looked up at the ceiling.

"Didn't I just say that you aren't leaving?" he demanded.

"I know that," I replied and rubbed my neck. "I-I'm just t-taking a simple walk. Just need some time to uh think and make up an um plan! Yes. I need to make a plan."

He frowned but let me pass. Down the hall I ran, into the deep recesses of the palace.

The walls turned from a pleasant marble to an ominous mossy stone. As it got darker, torches began appearing and lighting the way. Finally a large oak door with long metal bars across it came into view.

I pulled it open and let the pure power of manliness wash over me. I was in Duke Hunter's study.

Dead animal heads hung on the wall, as did portraits of grown men fighting unicorns, dragons and wizards.

On the shelf were rows of alcoholic blood beverages and books. Behind that was a large trophy case filled with weapons and medieval torture devices. I don't know why he had them either.

I grabbed the first thing I saw: an old colonial musket preloaded with its one shot. I placed it in my mouth and tried not to taste the rusting metal.

They think they can force me into an arranged marriage? They think they can make me wed a walrus? They think that they can ruin my life a _gain!?_ Well, I'll show them. Just because he's a prince doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants. Let's see how he likes knowing that I can't play his games anymore. If I'm dead I'll never have to tell Jack and then Liam will lose double time. Sure, Emilie will have to deal with this by herself and Claire might be condemned to a life of terror because I couldn't keep my mouth shut but who ever heard of punishing a ghost? That's just crazy!

I cocked the gun and prepared to pull the trigger when Jack burst in.

"Cassie, don't!" He screamed.

"Don't move! This is going to be messy," I said.

"Don't do this! There has to be another way out of this! If you kill yourself you'll regret it afterwards," he eased toward me slowly. "I promise we'll find a way out of this. Trust me."

I eyed him. What could he do? He fainted! That was even more pathetic than me.

"No thanks, Jack. I got this covered." Just as I squeezed the trigger he lunged at me. There was flash of sparks and everything went black.

"Shush! I think she's waking up!"

Alcohol and disinfectant filled my nose. Warmth and softness surrounded me. The room was dead silent as I tentatively opened my eyes.

Jack and Emilie were besides me. Everything seemed smaller and more boxed in. The mood was a little off. Not normal hospital feelings. It was like they were nervous about catching a disease or something.

"How're you feeling, Cassie?"

I jumped and turned my head in search of the sound for it was neither Emilie nor Jack.

"Oh, hey Aunt Sally, I didn't see you there," I said warmly. That was funny, Robert and the doctor were standing on my other side but I didn't notice them. "I'm feeling good, I guess. What's that doctor doing here? Why does everything smell like surgery?"

They exchanged uneasy looks.

"You mean you don't remember?" The doctor asked and jotted down words in his charts. He had a bone through his nose and feathers sticking out of his hair. Why'd they call a specialist?

I crooked an eyebrow. They were all acting so weird. "Uh, yeah I remember. I was going to kill myself but Jack ruined it. Thanks a lot by the way." I turned my head to glare at him and he sighed and bit his lip.

"So what's the deal now?" I asked. "Am I dead or floating in purgatory? I don't have to marry that fat guy anymore right? Right?"

They glanced at the ground. "Right?!"

"Well actually, thanks to you, we have a few weeks before we have to leave," Emilie said. "Since you need your recovery time. Doctor's orders and all that."

"Recovery time? What are you talking about?" I growled and tried to sit up. I was impeded by what felt like straps around my wrists and elbows.

"What the fuck is going on?" I demanded.

"That gun was made centuries ago. Did you really think it would do any real damage?" Robert asked.

"Yes!" I said. "And it did! I'm dead right now meaning I don't have to marry emperor asshat anymore. I put a loaded gun in my mouth and pulled the trigger. You can't tell me that I'm still alive."

"Well you are," the doctor said. "The gun was only capable of minor injury. It couldn't kill you. At best it would've gotten lodged in your brain and temporarily destroyed some of your short term memory. But thanks to young Duke Hunter, your brain is safe. You're face, not so much."

"My face? What about my face? And why am I tied up?"

"Do you notice that you can't see the full 180 degrees? Are you wondering why you have to crane your neck just to look to the other side of the bed?" The doctor asked like he was selling diet pills.

My eyes, or rather my eye went wide with shock. Now that he mentioned it, the left side of my face looked a bit black. "I SHOT OUT MY EYE!?" I screamed and struggled against the oppressive bed. All those stories of children running around with scissors and pencils came rushing back to me.

"Yes, it was completely blown out. It'll grow back in a few weeks though, so don't worry about," he replied easily.

My breaths came in short gasps. "I'm blind. I'm freaking blind in my left eye. I shot out my eye!"

Jack stroked my face soothingly. "You heard the doctor; it's going to be ok. And plus, you get to wear a cool eye patch. Do you like it? I picked it out just for you." He raised a mirror, and I saw my sallow face. I looked like I belonged in a padded cell. My left eye was covered by a black eye patch with a rabbit stitched in the middle. The area around it was a bit deeply bruised.

I reached out to touch it but was yanked back by the straps. "Why the hell am I tied down!? Take these off right now!"

"No can do, missy. According to what I hear, you are bat shit insane. This is for everyone's safety. When you are mentally fit and able to compose yourself like a working member of society, than you'll be free to marry the emperor or try to kill yourself again. I don't care. I haven't seen my wife in three weeks," the doctor said.

"How could you guys do this to me?" I screamed at them. "I thought I was like a daughter to you! How could you tie me up like some psychopath!?"

"You tried to kill yourself with a seven hundred year old musket," Robert said. "I think this is the fatherly thing to do."

"Honey, we're not going to leave you tied up here forever! You'll be free to walk around soon enough. Once you calm down and start thinking rationally, we can start working through this. You're just a bit traumatized from all the excitement," Sally said.

"Ok! Ok look, I'm rational! See, I'm breathing deeply," I said and took deep breaths. "I admit I went a little crazy, but I'm ok now! You have to believe me! Please auntie! The straps are hurting me so much! "

Sally grimaced and then looked at the doctor who shook his head. "I don't recommend it, Your Grace."

"Untie her," she said sternly.

He muttered something before throwing off the covers. I squeaked in horror at the thick black ropes wrapped tightly around my arms, waist and legs.

As he untied my ankle, he whispered something to the Duke and Duchess before walking out.

"Whoops got to go," Emilie said and bolted from the room.

Red burns marked my wrists painfully. "What did he say?" I asked.

Uncle Robert coughed and stood up. "As you may have noticed that he wasn't our regular witchdoctor. That was the Emperor's personal physician, and he was told to inform the Emperor once you were well enough so that the emperor could come and see you."

"NO!" I screamed and jumped off the bed. My limbs were still a bit weak, but I managed not to break my head on the table corner. "No way! No! I'm going to kill myself!"

Robert covered his face and walked out.

"How could you let this happen?" I asked Sally.

"We're doing all that we can. I don't want this to happen anymore than you do. But until then you have to be strong. Trust me," she said.

"Trust you? No! I'll trust you when I'm not married! And you!" I directed my rage at Jack. "I trusted you and now I'm eyeless Joe Captain of the matrimony express!"

"If it weren't for me, you'd be…alright I guess," he said and sat on the bed.

"Oh, God forbid something goes right for me!" I yelled.

"Ok, listen I'm going to tell the Emperor that you're not feeling well, and then I'm going to try and find a way out," Sally said. "It's going to be ok. Trust me."

She left and Jack walked over to me. "I'm sorry that I didn't let you shoot yourself in the head. I just didn't think that it would be very productive. Forgive me?"

"Forgive you? I'll forgive you when I'm dead!" I said.

He rolled his eyes and pulled my face to this. "Do you hear yourself? You're crazy," he whispered. "You are _insane_. Calm down before they haul you off to the asylum."

I whimpered pitifully and let my head rest on his shoulder. "I can't do this! I can't do thiiiiiis! What if he chooses Emilie? There's no way out!"

"You can do this! We're all trying to find a way out of this, don't worry ok? Everything's going to work out, I promise," he said and kissed my forehead. "Trust me."

Why was everyone saying that?

I leaned into his neck. "I don't have an eye.'"

He grinned and wiped an errant tear from my cheek. "Well, just think of it this way: I lose a tooth, you lose an eye. We complement each other."

I sighed and let his voice calm me. Things couldn't get too bad. "Thanks for not letting me destroy my short term memory. You were right, I would've regretted it."

He looked down and smiled. "Not more than me."

There was a pause and he hummed a little pirate shanty under his breath. Ooookkkaaaay

"Jack, are you ok? Why are you so calm?"

He looked up at me in surprise. "Oh, I am as high as a kite right now. I was screaming so much when the doctor came that he made me take some pills and now I can eat reflections."

I nodded and chewed on my lip. Oh yeah, I would definitely trust him now.

He followed me as I walked to the bathroom and climbed onto the counter. "Do you know what my eye looks like?"

"Do you feel that? It feels like I'm underwater... I c-can't breathe."

I ignored him and touched the area around my eye gingerly. It was numb, but I knew it was going to hurt like a bitch later. The eye patch was light, but stiff as I lifted it off.

There was a large, brutal purple hole where my eye was supposed to be. Gore lined the emptiness and the surrounding bone shrapnel was charred black.

"Holy shit," I whispered and felt the blood drain from my face. The air turned shimmery and the walls began spinning.

Jack stopped trying to bite the mirror and turned to me. "What's the matt- AHH! AHHH! NO! AH!"

His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted.

What a pansy.


	20. Chapter 20

"Ready for the big day?"

I snorted and sat up. Drool crusted my sweaty cheek, making my hair stick up. "Whosat?!" I scanned my darkened room until my eye alighted on the source. I wiped my face and glared at Liam. "How long were watching me sleep?"

He smirked and sauntered over to my bed. "Long enough. Give up yet?"

Having him so close while I was naked under the covers was weird. I pulled the covers to my chin and scooted to the other side. "Give up on what?"

He sat and reclined on my bed. "On trying to figure a way out of this. You've been beat. There is absolutely no way out."

I shuddered and tried to pretend I was somewhere else. Somewhere fully clothed and without Liam. "You still think this is a game, Liam? I give up, is that what you want to hear? I'm cold, sticky, naked and blind in one eye. I. Give. Up."

"HAH!" He barked. "Yeah, that is _exactly_ what I wanted to hear." His tone turned sarcastic and he sneered at me. "You know, he went to Claire's house after you passed out from your… _accident."_

My eyes widened and I squeezed the sheets tighter. We both knew who 'he' was. "R-really? How did that go?"

"Pretty good," he said. "He likes her, but then again… who wouldn't?"

He cocked his head and smiled in an unsettling way. The lighting was dim, but I saw his fangs glinting sharply.

"I didn't mean for that to happen," I mumbled, "But y-you started it. This wasn't my fault."

"I STARTED IT?!" He shouted before quickly regaining his composure. He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Did you just say that 'I started it'? That's funny because I thought you said this wasn't a game. But I guess if I started it that means I have to finish it too. How do you think I should do that?"

Note 11: Lock the door when you sleep.

"By leaving my room?" I suggested. "Unless you came in here to tell me that this was all just a horrible prank then you should go."

"When Claire found out what happened she told me that she hated me and that she never wanted to see me again," he said quietly.

I stared at him unsure of what to say. "You deserved it."

"I suppose I did, but did she?" He was gone before I could blink and I was left sitting there in the dark.

I was not feeling very good about myself. Even if Liam started it, he obviously wasn't going to finish it. I couldn't ruin Claire's life just because of some stupid fight. With a sigh, I got dressed and walked out into the empty hall. Every room I passed was devoid of any life. There was a room that was frequently used by diplomats and guests, so that was where I was headed. Everyone was so busy trying to get around the problem, they all forgot about just dealing with it. I was a royal. I had responsibilities.

I looked down at my feet and tried not to think about what I was doing as the tall wooden door loomed in front of me. Fear and apprehension seized my stomach as I raised my fist to knock.

Before me knuckle touched the door, I heard a low 'Come in'. The door opened and I stepped into the huge room with the Emperor reclining on the tall four poster bed.

His fat was dripping over the bed and he smiled lazily. "Yes? Come for a pre-wedding tryst?"

I struggled to hold the vomit down in my throat and then glared at him. "What do you want?"

"Pardon me?"

"I don't want to marry you, Emilie doesn't want to marry you, and Claire doesn't want to marry you. That is my starting point. Where do you want to go from there?"

He stared at me before gesturing to a seat by his side. His eyes never left me as I moved.

"You know, I've been searching for a new wife for quite some time now. Yes, quite some time," he grumbled. "It's hard nowadays what with women able to choose whom they marry now. My house is empty now. All my previous wives are dead. I don't even have an heir. So when your prince came to me with this promise of a legacy, I knew that I had found myself one of those perfect and rare deals. So when you tell me that you're trying to take this away from me, I can't help but feel a little peeved. Understand?"

I nodded.

"But, I am a flexible man, who's willing to make deals?"

"That depends on what exactly the deal is," I said.

He smiled dryly and turned to face me. "What a shrewd business woman. Tell me; is it true that you are the Hunter's _Sang Royale_?"

My heart skipped a beat and a whimper escaped my lips. "W-what? W-who told you that?"

"I'm an Emperor, dear. I have sources everywhere," he said with a grin. "In fact you don't need to answer. I know it's true. What I'm really asking is if you're willing to come back with me as my _Sang Royale_? I'll release the Duchess and Countess from the contract and even import a few free shipments of steam mechanics as dowry."

That was a better deal than I had hoped. He was going to make everything go back to normal. The only difference was that I wasn't going to be there. Emilie and Claire would be ok. But I would have to live with him. And everyone would be safe. But I would be the Emperor's _Sang Royale_. But the Emperor would become our financial ally. But I would have to leave Jack.

He would be better off without me.

I swallowed and looked down at the ground, desperately willing myself to stay in the seat. There was a loaded silence as I tried to force out the words. I finally settled with a tiny nod and let the tears seep from my eyes.

"Excellent," he said. "You are truly a noble after all.

I ran out.

I awoke to the sound of clapping. I sat up and wiped my tear stained face.

"Amazing. Simply amazing," Liam said and leaned against the door.

"Just go away, please," I moaned and buried my head under the pillow. "I have enough problems already."

"They'll be writing songs about you for centuries. Cassandra, the bravest pirate of them all! My, aren't you a brave one? I just came to tell you to watch out. He told me first and now he's telling the rest of them. They'll be here in a few seconds."

He slipped out the door, and as if on cue, Robert Sally and Emilie burst through the door.

"What were you thinking?" Robert yelled. "You can't do this!"

"Didn't I tell you to trust me?!" Sally screamed.

I frowned and shrugged. "I'm not a real aristocrat and I'm not really your daughter. Ranford is a super power. It would be stupid to incite a war over a petty squabble. Don't worry about me, it'll be fine."

They stared at me wordlessly before storming out the door.

Emilie lagged behind and gave me a sad look. "You didn't have to do this," she whispered. Her face screwed up as if she was about to cry but she ran out before I could see.

The room was suddenly quiet and waited expectantly for Jack to come screaming too, but the room remained silent. He wasn't coming? My heart dropped into my stomach as the one person I really needed to see failed to arrive.

"Forever. That's what you said."

"I'm sorry, Jack," I mumbled and kept staring at my arched knees through the covers.

The bed bounced as he climbed in and he lifted my chin up. "Why?"

I stared into his wide eyes and felt my resolve melt away.

"Jack I- I had to. I couldn't just stand by and let this happen. Please understand," I said.

He closed his eyes and sighed. "Of course I understand. But…"

He trailed off and looked away slowly.

"But what?"

"Didn't you think of me? At all? How can you just leave? " His voice rose in anger and he glowered at me.

"I know I promised you! I know! Please don't make me feel guilty Jack. I just made the best and worst decision of my life," I blurted and tried to suck in the tears.

He swallowed and then pulled me to him. "You promised you would never leave me, so now I promise that I will never leave you. I swear. We still have forever."

I winced into his chest. That one word hurt more than anything.


	21. Laughing all the way to the cemetary

I must admit, for a giant walrus looking blob of fat, Emperor Grant sure had a nice castle. It was a tall steel and glass contraption with a hundred rooms. The country of Ranford was like something out of a fairy tale: thick murky forests, secluded waterfalls, little wooden huts scattered about the wide country side.

Despite its beauty, there was something off about Ranford. There were hardly any people. Occasionally you'd see someone walk into a store or building, but asides from that nothing. The only regular people I saw where the ever present guards patrolling the streets.

I tried to ask where all the people where, but the only other person who would talk to me was the Emperor and I was staying as far away from him as possible.

Instead, I planned to stay in my room for the rest of the month until the wedding. I didn't have to see him until the then. I hadn't seen Jack or anyone else since I left, and I didn't plan to. No one was allowed in or out of the country until the wedding. For security purposes I was told.

The emperor tried to lighten my mood by sending me gifts and offering wonderful dinners, but every gift he sent was dashed against the wall. Every meal was eaten in my room. As we got closer to dooms day, I stopped eating completely, and just stayed buried under the covers.

"Another gift from his highness," a maid said and dropped a small white package by my head.

We had long done away with formalities. She had been attending to me since my first day there. She knew how I felt, and was full of pity.

"Just leave me alone, Colette! I don't want any stupid gifts," I moaned.

"Aw, are we getting cold feet?" she cooed and brought her eyes level to mine. "There's only a week before the wedding!"

"I envy the dead" I whispered

Tears streamed down my face and soaked the pillow. My stomach ached from days of disuse, and I was getting bedsores.

Colette was silent for a second before leaning real close to me. "Well how about I do you one better; what if he was dead?"

My ears perked up and I turned to her. "What do you mean?"

She looked at the door and took a deep breath. "Listen, and listen very carefully. How far would you go to be free?"

"As far as I could. I would do anything," I answered immediately.

She swallowed and closed her eyes. "Ok Duchess, I might have a way to get you out of this but you have to trust me. You have to swear that you'll keep this between us."

I raised an eyebrow and sat up. "What exactly are you saying? You would betray your own ruler?"

"Keep your voice down!" she snapped. "Emperor Grant is not exactly the best Emperor in the world. He's a tyrant. He's stripped us of our rights and our wealth. He taxes us up to our necks. We would've revolted years ago if it weren't for the hundreds of armed guards he keeps at every corner to squash every rebellion at the seed. Now for years, I've been part of a resistance group that's been trying to regain our rights, but Grant is just too strong. We've been slowly watching our country fade away under his iron thumb. But then you came and now you might be our only chance, because he'd never expect you to do something. You've only been here a three weeks. So I figure that if you help us, we could help you. Understand?"

She leaned away and exhaled.

The clock ticked as I contemplated her words. "How exactly could we help each other?"

"Once you got married you would own Ranford. The wedding was supposed to unite our two lands to make a stronger state. Except as soon as you both were married he'd take over your country and impose his totalitarian law over everything. "

"Why are you telling me this? Isn't this treasonous information that could result in everyone getting killed?" I asked. From what I've seen in movies, rebels aren't supposed to be advertising their plans like it's some kind of sale.

She looked away. "You're our last chance at freedom. Once you're married there would be no need for Grant. The country would immediately fall under the joint rule of you and King Benton."

I shook my head and tried to understand what she was saying. "H-how exactly would you get rid of Grant?" My voice got lower with the brevity of my words.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and she shot up. "Later. I'll come back later, but until then please try your best to get on Grant's good side, and for god's sake be discrete. Don't mention this to anyone!"

The knocking grew more persistent and she rushed to the door.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do?" I cried after her.

"To start, you could come down and eat dinner in the dining hall." She threw open the door and standing there were three maid's carrying several white boxes with cream bows.

"More gifts from his Illustriousness, Lady Cassandra," one maid said with her nose high in the air. "Shall we throw them in the fire or you would you like to open them before having them destroyed?"

Colette inclined her head towards me before walking out.

"I'd like to keep them, if that's ok with you," I said. "And if there's still time, I'd like to attend lunch today. Please inform m-my future husband that I'm in a much better humor today."

They stared at me, before one of them nodded and rushed out and the other two began opening the boxes.

A maid with dark red hair pulled out a striped summer dress and laid it on the bed while a tall one laid out a bunch of accessories.

Sunglasses, a bracelet, a necklace, shoes and a summer hat that all matched the dress.

The maid with the stuck up nose ran into the room, "His illustriousness would be delighted to have you and demands that you come down immediately." Her breaths came out in harsh gasps.

She snapped to the other two and bum rushed me, armed with the gifts. In a few minutes I was dressed and combed for the meal.

The heels were high, but I managed to hobble to the dining hall without breaking anything.

I hadn't been to any other part of the castle since I first arrived, but the dining hall was even more beautiful than I remembered. The ceiling was high and had a long glass chandelier shining on the gold and blue finish that painted the walls and furniture. It would have been perfect if it weren't for the fat tub 'o' lard stationed at the other end of the long mahogany table.

He smiled and the sweat glistened off his pale and dimpled hide.

"Why good morning. I had begun to think that you didn't like me," he slithered.

I kept my head down and suppressed a deep sigh. I wondered what Colette meant by getting rid of the Emperor.

"Tonight's weather is supposed to be lovely," he continued. "Mayhap you would like a guided tour of the capitol. You should at least see the country before you start ruling it."

I nodded absently and picked at my now cold food. His cold gaze stayed on me for a few more seconds. "Our wedding is in less than a week, and you look like death personified. Tell me, what would make you happy?"

"Nothing," I said automatically. The thought of taking anything from him disgusted me. A cruel smile spread across his face and I stared back down at my plate.

"Interesting," he said. "Is that all you want?"

I nodded slowly.

"Consider it your first wedding gift. Now how about a ride about town as my wedding gift?" He rang a tiny gold bell and a bevy of servants appeared.

"Lead Lady Cassandra to my convertible, I'll be there shortly," he said to them.

The top was already down on the cherry red Ferrari. At least we wouldn't have to breathe the same air.

As soon as I reached it, Colette appeared with tall red headed man.

"What did you do?" She whispered furiously.

I stared at her and then at the man. "What?"

"He's doubling the security for the wedding! Didn't I say to be discrete?" She glared at me. The man pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I d-don't know what I did…who're you?"

Colette turned to the man as if she just remembered he was there. "This is Jen; he's the one who came up with the plan that might be useless now."

"It's not useless. We still might have a chance. She's just going to have to do it herself now." Jen said.

"What?!" Colette exclaimed. "She can't do it! We're asking too much-"

" _Nothing is too much when it comes to Ranford_ ," he snapped. Jen turned to me with a grave look. "Lady Cassandra, the fate of our countries depends on you now. You're our last chance, but the choice is yours. I'm not going to waste any time coddling you. You're going to have to kill Grant yourself. Before the security hike we were going to plant an assassin, but now the only who can get close to him after the wedding is you."

"WHAT? I CAN'T DO THAT!" I screamed. They both shushed me.

"Don't worry, as queen no one will be able to touch you," Jen continued. "It's just a matter of if you'll be able to do it. The choice is yours."

I looked to Colette for help but she just licked her lips hastily and began walking away. "You need to find a way to regain his trust, so think of something quick. Don't worry, we'll discuss this tonight."

I jumped when the door opened and the Emperor climbed into the driver's side. "Who was that?" he asked.

"No one! Just servants," I said quickly.

"When you're queen, you won't be able to talk as freely to the peasants as you do now. Now, on with the tour." He revved the engine and sped down the driveway.

The town was devoid of any real life as per usual. Only guards could be seen milling around.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he said. "A whole city cleansed of the garbage and riffraff. A country that is governed by efficiency. You see how empty the streets are? That's because they're all working. We have the lowest crime rate of the whole continent."

"But when do people get to see each other?" I asked.

"We have holidays, of course, and every week we have free day where the citizens are allowed to take a day off from work and socialize. I've been thinking about making it every other week though. What do you think?"

A little girl in one of the houses stared after our car through a high window. I needed to find a way to gain his trust. "Actually, Emperor Grant, I've been thinking about the wedding."

"Oh?"

"Would it be so terrible if we moved it up a few days? There's no need to wait a whole week," I said.

He raised an eyebrow. "I must say, your latest mood is by far the best. Very well. We'll move-"

He was cut off by a loud shriek. Two guards were cornering a tall thin girl against a shop wall.

"Wait!" I yelled and jumped out of the car before he stopped. "Get off of her!"

Note 12: There is no off switch for an adventurer.

The guards turned their heads to me and sneered. "What are you doing outside? Bad mistake, lady. Get over…"

The guard trailed off as he realized who was sitting in the convertible behind me.

"Pardon me, milady. I didn't know who I was speaking to. It's just that no one is allowed after curfew. New law, m-milady," he stuttered.

"That doesn't excuse whatever you were doing to her," I snapped. The girl was still quivering against the wall and I held out an arm to her. She ran behind me and hid.

"It'll be ok," I whispered to her. "Emperor Grant, please go back without me. I'm going to make sure she gets home safely. Guard, walk ahead of us and make sure we don't run into anymore trouble."

I walked off before he could say anything and the girl ran after me.

"Thank you so much, Duchess Cassandra. I am eternally grateful," she said in a hushed voice.

"No problem."

"I can't believe I'm actually talking to you. The whole country is quivering about the upcoming wedding. The papers haven't been able to catch so much as a photograph of you."

"You have reporters?" I asked.

"No. We have government issued newspapers."

"I see."

We stopped in front of a plain gray building. "But, I know that you'll change things," she whispered.

"Really? How do you know?"

She opened the door and smiled broadly. "Everyone knows about you. You were a S _ang Royale_ to the Hunters. They are wonderful rulers who understand their people. We've seen all the press conferences you've done with them and interviews. We know how you wanted to be an airplane pilot."

In the background a guard coughed in order to hurry her up.

"And we know that you won't let us down…Queen Cassandra."

She ducked inside and I was left staring at the door in awe. They were all depending on me and I didn't even know it. All I could concentrate on were my own selfish troubles while a whole country was being torn apart.

That night, Colette came as promised.

"Look, I don't want to put any pressure on you but here. Just in case the opportunity arises," she handed me a small glass vial filled with black liquid. "Put this in his drink. It'll take care of everything, but remember you must do it _after_ you're married, otherwise everything will fall apart and we won't have a queen or a king."

"But-"

She clapped my back and ran out of the room like a football quarterback.

The vial wasn't heavy or ostentatious. This was capable of killing a man. Not even a man, my _husband_.

Was I really capable of taking someone's life even if it would save thousands of other people? Why was that my responsibility? This wasn't my choice. Did he deserve it? Who was I to make that decision?

Could I really kill him?

There was a knock at the door and I fumbled with the vial before slamming it into drawer.

"Yes?" I called.

"You have a visitor, milady," a high voice called out.

I rolled my eyes. Friggin' Emperor. "Come in."

The door creaked opened and I waited for the noxious smell of sweat and hate to seep into the room. I stared out the window to avoid having to look him in the eyes.

"I didn't think three weeks and eternity were the same thing." A voice breathed into my ear.

I stiffened before whipping around throwing my arms around him. "OH MY GOD! JACK!"


	22. x

"I can't go back with you."

Jack stared at me in confusion and looked several times like he was about to say something, but just couldn't phrase it properly.

"What?" He finally asked.

"I said I can't go back with you," I muttered regretfully and tried to avoid his piercing eyes.

He dropped my hand and stood up abruptly. "Cassie!"

I looked up and bit my lip. "Yes, Jack?"

He waved his hands in the air wordlessly as if trying to convey an invisible message to me.

"Jack this…this isn't just about me anymore. I can't go back with you."

"When was this ever only about you?!" He shouted, finding his words in a sudden burst of anger. "Do you have any idea- what the _fuck_ do you mean that you can't come back?!"

"I can't tell you now but-"

"WHAT?! YOU CAN'T TELL ME? DIDN'T WE GO THROUGH THIS ALREADY?!" He screamed. "You're joking aren't you? This is all just some big stupid joke!"

"Stop screaming or someone is going to come in here," I hissed. "Just calm down! I swear that you'll understand Jack, I swear it. Please understand!"

He clenched fists and paced the lush rug by my bed. "So, what am I supposed to tell them? My parents, the press, Emilie, _your_ parents? That you're just going to stay here forever, get married, have some kids and then live happily ever after? Tell them that you won't listen to reason and don't care that we searched day and night through thousands of tomes and law books until we found a loophole for the contract?"

I flinched as his voice rose to an uncomfortable level. He was acting like I actually wanted to stay here. Did he really believe that I would do this for no good reason? He didn't trust me enough, that was the only reason he was being so difficult.

"No. Tell them that the wedding has been moved to tomorrow afternoon," I growled and stood up to face him.

His breath came out in a long hiss as his shoulders slumped forward. Desolation pushed out all the anger in his face and he plopped onto my bed. "Y-you can't be serious. Why?"

I studied my feet. "I asked him to."

There was a long quiet gap and I didn't move to see his expression but I could tell it was terrible.

"Why would you do that?" he said quietly.

"Trust me," I said. "There are other people who are relying on me. I can't just abandon them."

"Oh, but you can abandon me without any problem?" He said sardonically.

"I'm not abandoning you!" I yelled, forgetting my previous warning. "I'm doing what's best for everyone! Why can't you trust me?!"

"Because I love you!" he yelled back. "I love you and you don't even care! I was so sure that at this moment, we'd be on our way home together, but suddenly something else is more important than home? More important than me?"

A cold chill passed through my veins, rooting me to the spot. My hands trembled and my heart stopped beating for several seconds from shock.

"J-jack, I-I… y-you…" I stuttered dumbly.

He towered over me and took my hand in his. "I love you, Cassandra. _I love you_. Now, will you reconsider what is so important and come back with me?"

The words rang in my ears like ice shards, slicing wherever they touched and leaving it numb.

This was some cruel, cruel irony. A week ago if you told me that the love of my life would reciprocate my feelings and yet life would find some terribly twisty way to make me refuse…I probably would have believed you. Nothing has ever gone right, so why should all my dreams coming true be any different?

I stared into his eyes and refused to let the tears spill over. "I can't."

A thousand years passed as he held me in his arms for that one second before recoiling back like I was on fire.

In silence he walked to the door and I watched him go, biting back words and screams and tears.

His hand was on the knob, but before he went he turned back to me with a blank face.

"Think of this as your first wedding gift," he said. And though his voice was low it echoed throughout the room and shook me to the core.

He threw something onto my bed and finally left.

The moment I was alone, I rushed to the bed with a burning throat and picked up the object. It was a tiny plain black box, but my heart stuttered painfully as recognition set in.

Inside was a perfect diamond ring.


	23. The End

Trumpets announced my arrival to the church. My driver ran to open my door and help me out. It was tough trying to maneuver around in the thick white wedding dress. Before I left the mansion, I caught a glance at myself and nearly had an aneurism. Lace and silk was everywhere, wound tightly around my body and arm. It looked like the dress was swallowing me whole.

I thought that it would take ten people to strap me into it, but somehow Colette managed to do it by herself, talking all the while.

"So later on, during the reception there's going to be the _rituel de sang,_ that's supposed to symbolize the start of your new life together. That is only chance you'll have, ok? They're going to give you a knife and a cup. You're going to have to slice yourself on the neck and let the blood drip. While this is happening you must find a way to lace the cup with poison, got it? Got it? Hello? Am I talking to myself here? Cassandra?!"

I jumped and looked down at her. She was cutting errant strings from my lacy wedding eye patch. "Yes?"

"Are you listening?" She snapped. "This is important. What do you keep fiddling with that ring? Is that another gift from Grant?"

Jack's ring was dangling from a thin silver chain around my neck, and it was the thread keeping me attached to sanity. "No, it's a wedding gift."

She grumbled something and pushed me out the door. "Remember, I put the vial inside your sash, okay?"

And then for the rest of the morning I was alone.

Inside the church, strangers filled the pews. Stationed around them like praying mantises were news reporters and photographers. I kept my head down, hidden behind my giant bouquet as I walked down the aisle. In the first row on the right, was that red head I met the other day with Colette, Jen. He was glaring at me. On the left were my parents, the Hunters, The King and Queen, Liam, Claire, Terry, Emilie and Jack.

Even though he looked very disgruntled and irritated and refused to look at me, he was there.

Everyone else was staring at me with wide eyes, watching my every movement and expression. They were all dressed in black. I couldn't stop staring at Jack, and that was apparent to everyone when I went sprawling onto the ground. A dress ribbon got caught on my heel and sent me on a long face first trip to carpet land.

The cathedral groaned and I quickly got up and rushed to the end of the aisle were Grant was waiting. He leered at me and signaled for the ceremony to start. The music hushed and the priest began talking and I still couldn't stop staring at Jack. He was slouched in his seat and looked like he really didn't want to be there, and seeing as how Terry and Emilie were sandwiching him he probably didn't have a choice.

"If anyone knows of a reason why this couple should not wed, may you speak now or forever hold your peace."

Jack slouched lower in his seat and then jumped because it Emilie probably pinched him.

"I have a reason!"

The crowd began murmuring as Jen the red head stood up pointed at me.

"The alleged bride is a traitor!" he shouted. "She was conspiring with a resistance force against the empire. She was going to poison you! I pretended to be an anarchist and they told me everything."

My jaw dropped and my hand flew up to my necklace.

"Yes, your illustriousness, as a member of your court it is my duty to protect you from any treasonous plots," Jen said.

Grant looked at me and I shook my head. "He's lying. He's just a huge liar."

"I'm the liar?!" Jen said. "If you don't believe me, search her. The vial will be in her sash!"

SHIT.

Grant beckoned to a guard who began sticking her fingers into every crease and crevice in my dress. Her fingers danced around my sash for a while before she shook her head. "There's nothing."

"Impossible!" Jen cried. "It's in her sash! Search her again! It's a small glass vial filled with black liquid."

There was a small 'plink' as that same little bottle tumbled out of his lap.

It must've flown out of my sash when I tripped and miraculously fallen into his lap. "He was going to frame me for your assassination!" I blurted out. "Guards!"

He was hauled away screaming and kicking, oh mercy of mercies. One tiny coincidence that saved my life…and also cost me it. My heart dropped as I realized that my one key to freedom was about to be thrown in the garbage. That it was. I had nothing left. The country was doomed. Flower petals fluttered to the ground as I crushed my bouquet in torment.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Grant pressed his fat jowls to my face and I tasted bitterness and cheese. Cameras popped and exploded and a dull roar erupted.

Oh no.

"My wife and I are so happy that you all came to share this wonderful day where not only two countries, but two people were joined together, for eternity."

I stared down at the long table where only Grant and I were sitting. In front of us were our guests and the reporters.

"As you all know, my young bride is also going to be my new _Sang Royale_ so, I would like to start the _rituel de sang_ as per tradition. When her blood touches my lips and vice versa, we will be bound together forever."

My body got really cold then, but I felt sweat sweeping from every pore. This isn't happening. This can't be happening.

I was handed a long thin knife with a bejeweled handle and a heavy goblet like Colette said.

The guests all clapped politely as I shakily brought the knife to my neck. Tears stung and pushed the back of my eyes as I turned my back to him to face my husband. He was looking into the crowd and smiling proudly. With a short slice, my blood spilled into the cup. Something cool slipped from my neck and I thrust the cup into his hands.

He raised the cup in the air, and they all cheered like this was some fun day at the pool. I leaned against the table for support and let my blood stain the white lace.

This was actually happening. My life was officially over before it even began. No more Terry, or castle or Jack. They were all gone. I had nothing left. Absolutely nothing. I was alone. And so was Jack. I promised him that he'd never be alone. I promised that I'd never leave him. I promised forever.

Grant swallowed the cup's contents whole, not bothering to savor the taste properly.

Suddenly, the cup went crashing to the ground and his face turned red, then purple. He scratched at his neck frantically, and the guards came running. Before they could reach him, he keeled over head first and smashed his head into the table.

His eye was caved in and his brain came spilling out of the side. I stumbled back in shock, and fingered my eye patch.

The guests moaned and reports beat against the guards to catch a good look.

The lady guard who had searched me peered into his open mouth and apparently saw something interesting. "The Emperor is dead," she announced.

"What happened?" someone yelled.

"Was it murder?"

"Was he poisoned?!"

She carefully pulled something from his gullet and stood. "No! No one panic, it was an accident. He choked."

"Choked on what?" I asked.

She turned to me and dropped something small and wet in my hand.

"You might want to clean that off before you use it again…your royal majesty," She said and stood behind me.

I looked down and gasped.

"What happened?" a voice cried.

I walked to the table and held up my prize: Jack's ring.

"Uh, people of Ranford, it is my deepest regret to have to announce the death of Emperor Grant," I announced to the press a few hours later. "But I'm not going to apologize for it because I know he was a major dick. So with his death, it is my greatest hope might be reborn as a better and freer country. This is why I am assigning all my power to King Benton."

"What will happen to you," a reporter asked.

"Oh, I'll still be Queen. It's just that King Benton will have all the power. Think of me as a messenger between the public and him. Like an ambassador or something."

"Long live Queen Cassandra!" a deep voice yelled. That phrase was echoed around until the whole crowd was chanting it.

"Uh, you too- I mean, _damn it_ , uh s-see you guys later," I muttered dumbly and ducked into my limousine. I barely passed public speaking in school.

I leaned against the leather and lamented my verbal stupidity.

"That was real smooth."

I yelped and pressed against the door. Jack was sitting across from me.

"So you were going to poison the-"

I dove onto him and pushed his lips to mine. Before he could respond I pulled back. "Jack!"

"Yes?" His voice came out in a high squeak.

"I'm sorry!"

"Uh, it's o-"

I kissed him again and hugged him tightly. "Do you forgive me?"

"I uh, um, uh I don't…"

I'll take that as a yes.


	24. I wuv you thiiiis much

"And that's what happened," I finished with a resolute nod. It was my tenth time telling the whole treachery plot, but Jack wanted to hear it again; this time with all the 'dirty details.'

"So that's it?" he asked. "You guys didn't…he didn't make you…"

"EW! Come on! That's gross," I said and screwed up my face. He leaned back on the huge pillows of my new bed and frowned. The Emperor's room was much bigger and nicer than my old one.

There was an awkward silence as Jack eyeballed me warily. "You didn't answer."

"Yes Jack. Yes, we had crazy hardcore butt sex right where you're sitting, ok? Jeez!" I exclaimed and threw a pillow at him. He neatly dodged it and cast a pensive glance out the window. A long space passed as we desperately tried to think of something to fill the silence.

Here we go again.

Over the past week, we haven't been actually talking. Our conversations have been fast paced superficial observations that kept us from plunging to that awkward topic of the night before the wedding. In the beginning I kept trying to bring it up, but he would always run away. Now it was like we had an unspoken contract: as long as I didn't say anything, he would stick around.

I understand why he didn't want to talk about it, but we had no other choice.

And then there were these awkward silences. Moments that just burned with the need to resolve things. A month ago, I would've been the one running away.

I sighed clutched a pillow to my chest. I kept my eyes fixed to the bed as I tried again for the hundredth time, "Jack…"

"Don't do it Cassie," he warned.

"-we need to talk."

The moment the words left my mouth, he was off the bed and stomping to the door.

"Aw come on Jack, don't be like that. You can't run away forever!"

"No!" he barked rather unreasonably.

This was getting really old. How long did he think could he keep this up? He was stubborn and I was impatient.

"Jack! If you don't stop walking I'll –I'll-"

"You'll what?"

"I'll have you arrested!"

He snorted derisively, but kept walking. I wrestled with myself then came to a decision.

"Nadia!" I screamed. Nadia was that captain of the guards and the same woman who retrieved my ring from the Emperor's gullet.

She appeared in the huge threshold. "Yes your highness?"

Jack gave me a bewildered look.

"Uh, he's not listening to me. Do something to make him stop…n-not doing that," I still had a hard time issuing royal commands.

She suppressed a sigh and gave him a 'don't-make-me-hurt-you-look.'

He threw his arms in the air and backed up towards the bed. "Ok, ok I'm sitting!"

He rolled his eyes and dropped himself on the bed. His shoulders slunk down and he refused to look at me.

"Jack we need to talk," I said for the final time and waited for whatever was supposed to come next. I had never gotten this far.

He shuddered minutely and slouched even lower.

The silence got heavier and more violent, tearing down any self confidence I thought I acquired. My skin began burning with a sudden shame.

He stared at me with feigned apathy though I could still see a tumultuous fear boiling in his eyes. "I'm listening."

The words were right on the edge of my tongue, waiting to drop on the bed like atomic bombs, but I wasn't sure what they were. The best thing to do in a situation like this would be to let the words tumble out freely without any censure and without regard of consequences. Right?

"Do you still love me even though I technically chose the late Emperor Grant over you?" My voice died as I realized how horrible that sounded. "May he rest in peace." He looked up at me sharply and I heard a low groan from the corner.

"You can leave now, Na-," The door slammed before finished my sentence.

I turned back to Jack who was still staring at me like I grew two heads. "That came out wrong. I mean-"

"Yes," he said huffily. "I still love you even though you decided to choose The late Emperor Grant over me. May he rest in peace. Will I forgive you for it? No."

"That's not fair!" I exclaimed. "You knew why I had to do it!"

"And you couldn't give me a heads up beforehand? Why didn't you tell me?!" He yelled.

"Because!" I yelled back. The sentence stopped there, because I wasn't really sure I should say why. "Just because!"

"Because?! You didn't think I could be trusted or something?"

"No!" I said.

"Why are you always keeping secrets from me?" he said. "How do you expect me to tell you anything when you never say a word?!"

He was right. I took a deep, deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut. "Because I was scared to tell you how I felt."

I kept my eyes shut and waited for his reaction.

"What do you mean _how you felt_?" His voice was really close and I felt a cool minty breath across my cheeks.

"I was scared you'd reject me" I whispered.

I hesitantly opened my eyes and jumped when he was skewering me with his stare. "Reject you? You mean…how long?" he demanded.

For some reason, my shoes looked really interesting at the moment. "Beach"

He pulled my chin down so that I was looking at him. "Is that why you wouldn't talk to me? Why didn't you tell me?"

I sighed and turned away from him and looked down. The jig was up. "Because, if I told you I thought I'd become just another girl to you. I didn't think you'd actually want me."

He frowned and stood up. "You actually think I'm that shallow? I didn't know you were that insecure."

"I'm not insecure! I just thought that I wasn't pretty or good enough to hold your interest for too long!" I shot back.

He raised an eyebrow and ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. "How are you so stupid? We wasted so much time. The time we could've had together is gone because you were too chicken to say anything!"

"Me? Why did I have to say something first?! How long were _you_ in love with _me_?" I pointed an accusing finger at him. He stiffened and pouted like a sullen child.

"Longer than you could guess," he snapped.

"So then why is it my fault?! Why didn't you say something first?!" I shouted.

"Because you kept acting like everything we did together was the end of the world! I couldn't even get near you without you pushing me away or saying something cruel! You're a really mean person Cassie," he said.

"So, we wasted all this time…because you're a coward? I mean, you realized it first so it shouldn't be my fault!"

"But I did try to tell you! So many times, but…but I-"

"You chickened out, right?"

"Well so what! I'm a coward and you're insecure. It's both our faults," he said.

"More your fault than mine," I replied.

He rolled his eyes and sat next to me. "Ok, let's make a truce. We won't waste anymore time. I'll say I love you and then you have to say it. You _have_ to say it, ok? This is my first time actually meaning it so it needs to be perfect, ok?"

"Uhuh."

"Ok," he started. "Cassie…I love you."

I stared at him for a second as a new thought formed in my head. There was something else I needed to take care of.

"Cassie?"

Something else more important.

"Ok, you're freaking me out. Would you say it already?"

His eyes grew wide and worried and he leaned away from me as if trying to backtrack on what he said. "Look, I-I…you-Cassie you promised."

"Jack…do you want to do the blood ritual with me?"

He froze and a faint blush crossed his cheeks. "The blood ritual? You want to bind yourself to me for the rest of eternity?"

"We don't have to do it if you don't want," I said with a shrug.

"No! I mean, yes I want to do it!" he shrieked and then covered his mouth. "I mean, I'll do it if you want to do it." He shrugged pathetically and I raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. We're going together forever now. Unless something else happens and I have to marry some other fat emperor of a far off land," I mumbled and patted his cheek. His brow darkened and he pulled my hand down. "Isn't there something you need to say now?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Jack, I love…my new house. Could we stay here instead of moving back to St. Sesame?" I said with a smile as I watched his expression rise and then fall.

"Don't do that," he muttered

"What? I'm just saying that I love the color scheme and all the rooms. Did you know I own a monkey now? And a horse? I love my new menagerie!"

He drummed his fingers along his folded arms. "That isn't funny."

"I love funny things!"

"Cassie, stop it." He growled through gritted teeth.

"Ok, sorry. If me saying the word 'love' is bothering you so much, then I'll stop saying it," I said and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "You are my best friend, after all. I want you to be comfortable"

He pouted deeply and kept his gaze fixed on the carpet.

"Don't look so sad," I said. "I'm just joking! You look like you're about to cry."

"Cassie…," he warned.

"Ok, I'm sorry. Jack. I love…unicorns. Ha-ha! I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!" I shouted after him as he stormed to the door. "Don't hate the player, Jack. Hate the game!"

He didn't respond, and even as I chased him to the door I couldn't stop laughing.

"Come back! I'll be serious next time I promise-HAHA! THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!"

My laughter caught in my throat when I got smashed in the face after he slammed the door.

"Ouch," I muttered and reeled back with hand protectively covering my mouth. Warmth dripped onto my palm. "Aw man, my lip is blee-"

The door blew open and I didn't even have time to shriek as he sliced through the air and slammed me against the wall.

The familiar tingling spread through my face as he grabbed my face and waist. Yet, something was off. This was different from our previous incidents. It was rougher and more ferocious than usual. He clawed a hole in the side of my shirt and grasped at the skin desperately. I closed my eyes and gripped at his shoulders tightly. He threaded his hands through my hair and curved my body into his.

In the intensity his teeth scraped jaggedly against my skin and I jumped back. He pressed harder for a second before pulling back and holding my chin still as if to make sure that my face stayed where he needed to be. "What?"

I raised an eyebrow and wiped a drop of my blood that was trickling from the side of his lip.

"Oh," he said and brought my fingers to his mouth. "Well, I don't have to hold back anymore, right?"

He kissed my fingertips and smiled smugly. My knees turned to jelly and I leaned into him.

"Jack, I l-love…ukuleles! HAH! AGAIN! You fell for it again!" I yelled.

He shook his head angrily and threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't care anymore. Forget it."

"Oh come on. Don't be a mood killer. Fine. I love you, Jack. I love you more than you will ever know. Even though we're dead, you still make my life worth living. Forever with you would be too short."

He froze and then smiled softly. He got down on one knee He dug around in his pocket and then held his closed fist out to me.

My heart pounded loudly, and tears began springing into my eyes. "Jack…" I whispered and held myself tightly.

He bit his lip. "Cassandra, will you...wait while I rethread my shoelaces?" He opened his palm to reveal red and white striped laces. "Nice right? I bought them the other day and forgot to do it."

My jaw dropped and I stared at him unbelievingly. "Jack, that's not even funny. That is so NOT funny!" I shrieked and wiped the undeserved tears.

His fingers danced swiftly along his sneakers and he was finished in a few seconds. "What? Oh, I'm sorry. If you don't like me getting down on one knee and asking you important questions, then I won't do it anymore."

"Cut it out!"

"Oh Cassie, you look like you're about to cry," he mocked in a baby voice. "Don't hate the player. _Hate the game."_

"…NADIA!"


	25. Marry me, he said

"So…you guys are going to be living here…alone…and unmarried?" Emilie asked while casually sipping blood from a tall glass. The Hunters, Emilie, Terry, the King and Queen, Liam and Claire were all gathered around the dinner table as we tried to figure out what to do from there.

I glared at her, before trying to smile convincingly at Sally and Robert. "Of course not! When you put it that way you make it sound dirty! We're just going to be living here…without you guys…and not be married also."

"Uhuh," Terry said. "And what are you going to name the baby?"

Robert sprayed his blood all over the table and created a nasty stain against the white antique tablecloth. Sally's eyes went wide and she dropped her glass on the ground. "Baby?!"

"THERE'S NO BABY!" I threw my hands up defensively.

"You're not even supposed to be here!" Jack snapped at her and then touched his mother's arm reassuringly. "There's no baby."

"They're going to name it after me, of course," Emilie said. "After all, this whole thing was my idea. Who hired Cassie? Me. And you guys were all 'No, it's a bad idea!'"

"Emilie," Jack hissed.

"Where's my room by the way?" Terry asked.

"What?" Jack and I said in unison.

"My room? Where I'm going to be sleeping?" she trilled and rolled her eyes.

"No," Jack said automatically. "No. That's not happening. Definitely NOT happening."

She raised an eyebrow at me and I looked down uncomfortably. She was one of my closest friends after all. Jack noticed this and lifted my chin. "No."

Terry leaned back and ran her fingers along the rim of her empty glass. "Jack? Who's the one who found that five hundred and fortieth clause in that one thousand and twelfth law book?"

He narrowed his eyes and glared menacingly at her.

"Who's the one who translated all that legal jargon into something readable?"

He clenched his fists and took a shaky breath. She passed law and society class with flying colors.

"Who's the one that figured out that only a _Sang Royale_ could be sold into a royal diplomatic marriage, but since you two didn't do the blood ritual, she technically wasn't a _Sang Royale?_ And since Emperor Grant, may he rest in peace, already signed the Emilie and Clancy out of the contract everything was void?"

Emilie took a loud slurp and banged the cup noisily on the table. Jack didn't flinch but kept staring at Terry.

"And Duke Jack Hunter, who is the one who looked over that same thousand page law tome, skimmed through it and told me that it was useless?"

Liam snickered and we both turned on him.

"Shut the fuck up, Liam. Who told you that you could laugh?" Jack growled.

"Excuse me?" Liam said

"Shut up, Liam!" I snapped. "How dare you disobey a royal order? I'm queen, and that means you do what I say you chess playing motherfucker."

Liam slunk down in embarrassment and everyone squirmed uncomfortably.

"Right," Terry drew out slowly. "I'm going to go look for my room now." She scooted out and left.

"I'll come with you," Emilie called. "I need find the guest room anyway."

They left an awkward silence behind them.

"So…there's no baby, right?" Robert assured.

I banged my head on the table and peered at Jack.

"No, there is no baby," he said.

"Terrific," King Benton said quickly. "Now, about Ranford, Cassandra, you will be living here as queen and you will be my eyes ears and mouth, correct?"

I nodded.

"And Jack, you will be living here too so you can help her manage all the royal laws and so forth, right?"

He nodded.

"Terrific," King Benton repeated and stood. "We'll be going. We have to write up a new constitution and abolish a few laws. Goodbye everyone."

The King and Queen exited quickly, as if they were running from something.

Claire stood as if she wanted to leave too, but with a sharp look from Liam she was back in her seat.

Sally coughed uncomfortably and pushed her chair back. "Are you two planning to…to do anything anytime soon?"

Jack and I exchanged looks of confusion. That was really vague. "Like what?" Jack asked.

"Like the blood ritual or get married or," she looked down and let the words trail off into a weak simmer. "Have a baby."

"No!" I shrieked.

Jack turned to me with wide eyes. "No?"

"I mean yes!" I backtracked and stood up. "I mean no! Baby?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line and drummed his fingers along the table.

"Not now!" I said.

"Then when?" He, Sally, and Robert said in unison.

"Yeah Cassandra, when?" Liam asked nastily. He winked and I knew he was somehow in some way involved in this new brand of questioning. "It has to happen at some time if you're planning to rule this country together."

"Who says?" I frowned and then smiled uneasily at Jack. "Not that it really matters, because it's going to happen."

"Oh, no pressure. Just saying that it wouldn't look good for the new queen to be living in sin with an aristocrat playboy. And I'm sure Aunt Sally and Uncle Robert would just love to come over and see their only son mooching off his…girlfriend? Lover? Life partner? What should I call you guys?"

Freaking Liam!

"Liam's in love with you, Claire."

Claire perked up like she had just awoken and Liam's jaw dropped. "What?! Who told you?!"

"Yes sir, he's totally in love with you. He told me to keep it a secret. But you know what? He's in my house! In my kingdom! Suck _my_ dick, Liam! I command you!" I yelled.

Now whether he was in love with her or not was totally irrelevant. I had no idea if it was true, but if it wiped that smug look off his face for even a second than dear lord it was worth it.

"That's preposterous," Liam said laughed rather unconvincingly. "I don't love her! Hah! Ridiculous!"

Well, unconvincing to everyone except Claire. She sucked in her cheeks and tears welled in her eyes. She hid her red face in her hands before storming off down some random dark hall.

"Claire, wait!" He ran after her yelling apologies all the while.

I sighed and smiled to myself. Job well done, Cassie. Job well done.

Robert and Sally looked at each other and then back at me and Jack. "So about that baby…"

"Why do you need a baby so badly? I have all eternity to make an heir to the throne!"

"We know that," Sally said. "And it's not just about making babies. It's about honor and mutual respect for each other and your countries. And Jack. My poor beautiful son. Are you just going to drag him around like some boy toy while his heart suffers the ultimate price for your callous ways?"

"Uh…" I looked at Jack and he raised an eyebrow as if he was waiting for a response. He was in on this too?

"Look, Aunt Sally," I said. "I'm not sure if you know this already, but I'm in love with your son-"

"We kind of figured that out."

"-So whatever is supposed to happen, will happen."

"But when?" Robert asked. "Eternity sorts of runs away of with you when you take too long."

"Now," Jack said and rose. "Marry me, Cassie. Marry me right now."

"What?! Sit down," I hissed. "This isn't how it's supposed to go."

"I know it's not as romantic as you'd like, but I'm tired and as long as my sister and my parents and Liam are here and freaking Terry, I'm not going to get any sleep. I was up all night meeting with city officials and tomorrow we're going to have to sign thousands of contracts and laws and bills so please just let me have this one day to sleep. Marry me."

"No! Not if you ask me like this!" I cried.

"Fine! I don't care! Enough! Everyone get out of my palace!" Then he ran up the stairs.

There was a pause as Sally and Robert stared at me like I was the one who just cursed them out and ran away. Suddenly a loud scream pierced the air. "NO! NO!"

Up the stairs to my new bedroom Jack was clutching his head and screaming bloody murder while Liam was smirking and Claire was blushing guiltily… _on my bed._

"NO!" I screamed. "NOOOOO!"

My head…my aching head. Why did everything smell like smoke? I tentatively opened my eyes to silver starlight pouring over the dewy grass field. High trim hedges surrounded me as did marble benches and a burbling fountain. I was in the palace garden.

What happ- "NO!" I screamed as the memories came flooding back. Liam! Claire! Sex! On my bed!

"NOOO!"

"Cassie!" Jack appeared out of nowhere and cradled my head. "Stop screaming! It's ok."

"Ok?! Did you see what happened?" I asked.

He took a deep breath and then looked behind me. "It's going to be ok."

I followed his gaze and gasped at the black clouds billowing from the castle. "What happened?"

"You don't remember? After you saw…it you totally went bonkers and then set the room on fire and then passed out. We were able to contain the fire before it spread, but now we have to find a new room while they renovate."

"Oh," I said dumbly. "Okay, but why am I outside?"

He looked down and smiled softly. "Thought we could use a break. You know, since from now on we're going to be ruling a country and all that. We're not going to have a lot of time together."

I sat up and leaned back on my arms. The moon was a slim crescent that still managed to illuminate the garden's heavy flowers that dotted the grassy walls.

"So," Jack started and looked up at the sky. "Will you?"

"Will I what?"

"You know…marry me?"

I looked at him and he was still staring steadfastly at that moon. I kept silent until I could see him getting unnerved.

"Yes Jack. I will marry you," I said gently and leaned my head against his shoulder.

He let out a deep sigh. "Good…I hope you know I'm only marrying you to become king."

I snorted and nudged him. "Well jokes on you. I'm a black widow. I kill all my husbands and then take their money."

"Well jokes on you double," he said. "After we do the blood ritual if I die then you die! Hah!" He paused and then looked back up at the sky. "Sorry."

I shook my head. "Way to kill the mood."


	26. Forever

There was the knock on the door.

"Come in," Terry yelled while she brushed back her hair.

Emilie leaned through the door and sighed dramatically. "Great," she said. "You didn't run away for the fiftieth time in a row."

I looked at her for a split second before Brady slapped me and told me to keep my eyes up and purse my lips.

Emilie had been running between me and Jack's room for about an hour. He kept sending her to check if I was still there. She said that he had a panic attack every time she didn't come back right away.

It was weird, two hours before my wedding and all I felt was tired. No butterflies, no second thoughts, no cold feet. It was simply a matter of waiting the clock out. I had invested way too much in this to even think of backing out now.

"Wait, Emilie don't leave yet," Terry said. "She's almost done with the makeup, and we're going to need help with the dress."

Emilie rolled her eyes and trudged into the room. They disappeared in the closet and came out with the long flowing gown. It was an a-line strapless dress with a full silk skirt that trailed along the ground. A thin satin ribbon circled my waist, created a layered bustle train and separated the delicately beaded top from the gauze below.

Brady put the finishing touches on my face. "Good luck," he chimed before he left.

"Ok, carefully step into the dress," Terry instructed while they both held the top wide open.

I raised a foot.

"CAREFUL OR YOU'LL RIP IT!" She shrieked.

I stumbled back and stared at her.

"Just slowly put one foot right into the middle-Careful, easy now."

I didn't move.

"You're doing great," she said.

There was a long pause as no one moved. Terry smiled encouragingly and Emilie frowned in disgust.

"Ok that's enough," Emilie snapped. In a blur of cloth and wind I was swathed and tied into my dress. Just as she was about to finished she froze, dropped me on the bed and then ran to the door.

The moment she reached it was the moment it nearly blew off its hinges. She pressed her back against the door as it bent inward.

"Emilie?!" Jack yelled through the door. "She's not there, is she?"

She and Terry exchanged sly looks and Terry slapped a hand over my mouth.

"Who? Cassie?" Emilie said.

"Yes, Cassie you idiot!" Jack growled.

"No," Terry replied. "She muttered something about getting some air and she hasn't come back yet. Before she left, I did see her talking with pool boy though, if that helps."

There was a tense silence.

"Emilie…if you're lying to me, and I know you are, the moment you walk out of this room I'm going to _fucking murder_ you. And you too Terry. I am going to end both of you." His voice was low and menacing. Even though it came out in a venomous hiss it seemed to reverberate around the room.

Emilie and Terry exchanged looks and Terry slid her hand from my mouth.

"I'm right here, love!" I called. "Please don't murder anyone on our wedding day."

There was a silence as if he really didn't expect me to be there, or didn't want me overhearing him threaten my bridesmaids.

"Hey, Honey," he tried to recoup. "How are you feeling?"

"Good. You?"

"I'm great...Can-"

"No. It's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding."

"Oh…ok. See you later I guess." He sounded so melancholy and dejected; I nearly took back what I said.

"Goodbye, Jack," Emilie droned before I could. "No one's falling for that."

I could hear his footsteps echoing down the hall, but before they died down completely Terry yelled out, "Hey, Cassie, what are you wearing under this by the way? The red lace lingerie that smells like roses?"

"Hah, Nice," Emilie said and they air high fived.

"Ready?" Terry asked. We were finally in front of the church. The doors were wide open and the moon cast a silver glow over everything. Candles burned on several chandeliers and looked like the heart of the cathedral was glowing with life.

I practically jumped out of the limo and skipped to the entrance. I eagerly shook my arm until someone handed me the bouquet and awaited my turn to go down the aisle.

It was going to be a simple affair. Two bridesmaids for me and two groomsmen for Jack, no flower girls, and my father wasn't going to walk me down. He and Robert had a big fight about who would get to do the honors, so I decided that no one would do it.

Emilie winked before doing the one step down the aisle as the music began wafting out. A string quartet was playing a soft melody and everyone turned to watch her go down.

Terry pressed a kiss to my cheek and then followed Emilie. They both looked so beautiful, I almost let a tear escape but then the music changed its tune.

It was my turn.

White rose petals swirled gently around my dress with every step that I took. I clutched the bouquet anxiously and kept my eyes fixed on the ground to make sure that I didn't trip on anything like last time. The cathedral rustled as everyone stood and snapped pictures.

Down the middle of the aisle, I decided to chance a look at and then I nearly tumbled over. He was absolutely gorgeous. His eyes were fixed on me and when we met his face broke into an irrepressible grin.

"Ready?" He mouthed and held out his hand.

I took it and smiled brightly. Absolutely.

Emilie tapped her nails against her glass and everyone quieted. "Thank you. Uh, I just want to propose a toast to the bride and groom. I'm not really good at these, but I thought I'd give this a shot. Uh Jack, Cassandra…you guys are so lucky to have found each other. I'm not one who believes in fate or destiny but honestly, that's the only way I can explain how two people who are so perfect and right together could meet. How, no matter what the circumstances or the trials, you always manage to find your way back to each other. It's extraordinary. If me, and my frigid self could be warmed by just seeing you together than I can only imagine how you two must feel whenever you look into each other's eyes and see eternity. Because that's what I see. I see you two together forever. And I know that even though its forever, you will never take a second for granted. Congratulations, I love you both. To the bride and groom!"

She raised her glass, as did everyone else and toasted to us. "Now for the blood ritual."

Everyone clapped and I turned to Jack and took a deep breath.

"Ok, where are the knife and cup and stuff?" I whispered.

He raised an eyebrow. "We don't need all that, that's medieval ritualistic junk."

"Then how-"

He caught my chin and pulled me into him. "Just trust me, _Mrs. Hunter_ ," he whispered before his lips descended onto mine.

A spark of electricity and suddenly my mouth was filled with sweetness that seemed to slither down my throat by itself. It swam into my veins and burned every inch of the way. Have you ever felt sweetness? Because it feels pretty damn good.

I pressed into his lips, and delighted in the millions of sparks that seemed to explode in my brain, but he pulled away just as I started.

"We're in public," he snickered into my ear. I blushed deeply and pulled back, realizing how I must've looked to the guests.

I looked at him again. We just did the blood ritual. Forever was finally a guarantee.

I curled my arms around his neck and kissed him, not caring what the children saw and in his surprise he steadied my waist and let the chair lean precariously on its tip.

There was a jingle and a pair of keys fell on the floor. An airplane keychain was attached to them.

"What's that?" I asked slowly.

"It w _as_ going to be a surprise but…Emilie! She found it!" he yelled and snatched up the keys before I could get them.

"Damn it Jack," Emilie hissed. "What can you do right? Ok, excuse me everyone! Will you all go outside please? It's time for the first wedding gift."

In the front garden, a peach colored PiperSport VLJ aircraft was simply waiting for me; calling my name.

"You can't be serious," I whispered and stared at it in awe. All my old loves and dreams came flaring back to life as I saw my very own airplane beckoning to me from the yard.

"But I am," Jack trilled and dangled the keys in front of me. "Just a little insurance to make sure you don't leave- hey where are you going? Cassie?!"

I snatched the keys and ran/stumbled to the jet and managed to climb into it without completely destroying the dress.

In my peripheral I could see Emilie asking if I knew how to ride and Terry frantically screaming at them.

Who needed lessons? The power of adventure was my guide!

Note 12: Adventure is not a guide

I ignited the engine and stomped on the gas. The guests stared in mild confusion as to why the groom would give his bride a new means of escape. Slowly the plane roared to life and rumbled into the grass, charring the lawn and surrounding trees. It picked up speed and shakily lifted its wheels from the ground. I was airborne and then I wasn't. I was in the plane and then I wasn't.

My hands were still wrapped around a ghost wheel when Jack yanked me back to solid ground.

The airplane's nose was crinkled against a tall oak, and all the guests scrambling around for help. The jets were smoking and a large branch impaled my seat.

"Ok, maybe that wasn't the best idea after all," I said. They all looked at me, remembering that I was there. I winced when I saw everyone's expressions; especially Jack's. He looked like he wanted to kill me.

"She's alive!" Terry yelled and swung her arms around my neck. "It's a wedding day miracle! Hip hip hooray for Cassie!"

Despite her cheering and not so subtle diversion, Jack's eye twitched and he shakily lowered me to a kneeling position. "Cassie, if you ever do anything like that again…I will kill Terry. So unless you want the blood of your friend on your hands, I suggest you stop trying to give me hypertension."

"Jack, did I ever tell you how gorgeous you look in your suit?"

His eyes widened in bewilderment and then I pulled him into a deep kiss despite the crowd. "I'm sorry, but I just love that plane so freaking much! Thank you! It's the best thing I could have ever gotten. Don't kill Terry!"

"…who?"

I collapsed on the wide bed, and let my muscles relax for the first time in five hours. Amidst shaking hands, accepting gifts and thanking everyone, it was a really busy night. The sun had barely peeked its head over the horizon, but for once I could see it. The windows on the ship were made of a heavily tinted material that kept out the rays, but still gave a clear view of the sun. We were spending our honey moon on a small private yacht that would sail to various coasts and beaches around my new country. A true adventurer's dream.

Light hands attempted to work at the corset strings and then Jack groaned exasperatedly, flipped me over and straddled me.

"Are you really wearing red lingerie?"

"Mhm."

His eyes raked over me, as if trying to see through the dress.

"And how am I supposed to untie this huge knot in the back? Is there some secret zipper somewhere? Am I supposed to look for it? "

I giggled as his hands began crawling around the dress, and realized reason why I was still wearing it. "I don't know. Emilie tied the ribbons without reading the directions. I'm not sure what she did."

He nodded absently and skimmed his tongue over his lips. "Exactly how important is this dress?"

Before I could even think about the question there was a loud rip and the dress was in two pieces on either side of the bed.

"Whoops."


	27. Epilogue: Forever is never long enough

Jack's eyes fluttered open to the complete darkness of the room. One shard of moonlight sneaked through the drapes and stabbed him in the eyes signaling that it was wake up time.

He sat up bleary-eyed and brushed the hair from his eyes. The spot next to him felt oddly vacant. He pulled back the cover and sure enough, his wife was gone.

He and rolled out of bed letting the cold floor sting his bare feet. The house was strangely quiet for once and he hulked down the halls, grumpily looking for Cassandra.

She was in the library frowning up at the twins. They were standing shoulder-to-shoulder and scowling. The moment he reached the doorway their eyes darted to his, they exchanged looks and gulped nervously.

"Don't start acting innocent. Go ahead, why don't you ask your father?" Cassie asked and turned to Jack. "Who's your favorite child?"

He raised an eyebrow and was about to answer, but Greg banged his fist into the table. "Who cares what dad thinks? I want to hear it from your mouth: Who's your favorite?"

"I love all three of you equally. You, Freddy and Robert are all my favorite," she answered in monotone.

"Don't give me that bullshit," Greg said and Cassandra vaguely wondered if it was the time to say something about curse words.

"First of all, don't tell your mother what to do. She gave birth to you; she'll give you whatever she wants. Second, you want the truth?" Jack said and wrapped an arm around. "Robert is my favorite. He is the oldest, he's driven, he has ambition and he doesn't wake his mother up when she's sleeping. Happy?"

Freddy sighed and ignored his father. "See, even dad knows when to stop playing games. Why can't you?"

"Because! I'm not playing games! I don't have a favorite, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you because it would just hurt your feelings."

"No it won't!" They both said in unison.

"What if I said Robert was my favorite? How would that make you feel?" she said and crossed her arms.

There was a silence as their eyes went wide.

"R-Robert is your favorite?" Freddy stuttered. Greg plopped into a tall chair blankly and stared into space.

"That's not what I said. I said 'what if.' Aren't you feelings hurt now? That's why I'm not going to choose between my kids!"

Suddenly their expressions changed and the mood relaxed.

"You hear that, Freddy? Robert is her favorite," Greg said. He cocked his head and smiled barbarically.

"It seems that way," Freddy said and returned the creepy grin. "Are you ok with that? Because I am. I'm glad she finally told us."

"I didn't tell you anything!" Cassandra exclaimed. "It was a hypothetical situation!"

"Aw there's no need to be coy, mom. We both heard what you said and we're fine! See, we're not sad," Freddy said and stood up. He hugged his mom and Greg did the same thing.

Jack backed up and gave his sons a wary look. Something was off.

"Definitely not," Greg said. "So, is Robert coming back from that meeting early? We just love it when he's here. He's so great."

"Uh, yes," Cassandra said incredulously. "He should be here in a little while."

"Terrific," They both said through gritted teeth.

Jack narrowed his eyes and then all of a sudden it clicked. "Don't kill your brother!" he exclaimed.

They shot up and stared at him. "What? W-what are you talking about dad?"

"You're going to kill Robert, aren't you? Don't do that!" he said.

Jack pulled Cassie away from them. "You see why Robert's my favorite now? Because he doesn't try to kill his family members."

"We weren't going to kill anybody! How could you even think that?" Greg laughed, but Jack held up a hand.

"Don't lie to me, I saw that look in your eyes and they held murder! Double murder!"

"So what if we were going to murder Robert? It's fully in our right. Ranford law dictates that we are allowed to overtake the throne by any means necessary. It's not fair that he gets it just because he was born first." Freddy said.

"You were going to w _hat?"_ Cassie yelled. "You can't be serious!"

There was a pause.

"That's because we aren't," Freddy said quickly. "It was just a joke. We weren't going to kill Robert! That's ridiculous!"

"And highly impossible might I add," a voice said.

Immediately Freddy and Greg tensed up and cranked their heads to the doorway.

"Look who it is! My favorite son!" Jack said and opened his arms.

Robert smiled and sauntered into the room. "So what's going on here? A little fratricide? Treason?"

The twins shot daggers at him. "Of course not," Freddy said. "We love our big brother!"

"Love you too, runt. Which one are you again? The loud one or the boring one?"

"Fuck you Robert!" Greg exclaimed.

"Fuck you Robert," he mocked and laughed. "You're just jealous because mom loves me more. Why wouldn't she? I'm freaking awesome and you're just a pair of evil freaks."

"I don't love you more, Robert. I love you all equally," Cassandra piped.

"You heard her, she loves us equally," Greg said.

"You and I both know that that's bullshit," Robert said.

"What did I say about cursing?" Jack screamed.

"The only thing that's bullshit is you, Robert!" Freddy said.

"STOP IT!" Cassie exclaimed. "You want to know who I love most? Jack. I love your father the most. Happy now? It's neither of you!"

There was an awkward silence. "And then me second right?" Robert asked.

Cassandra rubbed her forehead and he made a face at the twins.

"Where did I go wrong?" she moaned. "My children are crazy!"

"Look what you freaks did! You made mom cry!" Robert said.

"We're not freaks!" they screamed in unison.

They began arguing violently and Cassie looked on in distress. She felt a light tug on her shoulder and let Jack pull her into the hallway.

They walked hand in hand back to their bedroom. "What is wrong with our children?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It's just one of those things."

"Were we that weird when we were younger?"

He slowed down for a second in thought. "Nah. Definitely not."

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.


End file.
